Teaching Star to Read
by VigilanteCharlie317
Summary: Robin discovers despite Starfire knows spoken English, she is unable to read English text. From here on lie the two most daunting challenges the Boy Wonder has yet to face; admitting his feelings for Starfire, and teaching her how to read.
1. Chapter 1

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter One

It was a surprisingly slow day in Jump City, for the Teen Titans, that is. The five heroes were quite unaccustomed to having this unusual 'day off', and no one knew quite what to do with it. Altogether, no one was too keen on getting out of the house, on the off chance of jinxing their luck and running into a villain… So each Titan leisured in their own personal way; Raven was tucked away in the dark and dreary of her room, invested in an ancient book. Beast Boy slumped on the couch in the Operations Center, allowing his brain to further decompose while his green eyes glazed over the mind-numbing all-day television marathons. Cyborg was down in the garage of the Tower, fiddling with new installments on the T-Car.

Unlike the other, preoccupied Titans, Robin was aimlessly roaming around the Tower. He was not exactly in search of something to do, but it wasn't his nature to laze around all day, like that of Beast Boy.

It was truly no wonder Robin could not easily occupy himself the way his fellow teammates could. He didn't have many hobbies, or rather, he never really gave himself the time to develop any other than training, doing paperwork, and keeping a tight leash on all of the criminals in his city. And none of those activities really met the "hobby" description. He continued to wander through the bleak, grey hallways, pondering what he could possibly be doing right now if he actually had any normal pastime-activities. But he came up with nothing.

Dragging his feet through the halls, Robin walked by the bathroom, when something caught the attention of his peripheral vision. He turned to find his fellow teammate, Starfire, in said bathroom with the door open, sitting on the floor slathering something on her skin. She caught his eye contact and turned to wave, "Oh, greetings Robin! I did not see you in the hallway! Where might you be off to?" she asked,

"Nowhere in particular Star, I can't seem to find anything to do with myself, what with the lack of… activity going on today" Robin replied, not taking his eyes off of the strange goop that covered his friend. _What on Earth is she doing?_ he thought, _well whatever it is, she at least found something to do._

"I see. I myself have been having the same problem up until now. I take it you are 'the bored' today as well?" she asked, and Robin took a closer look at what covered her with great curiosity.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Um, Star? What are you doing?" he asked her, motioning towards the white substance plastered to her arms as she poured more into her hands.

"I am doing the _exfoliating of the skin_, as I have seen from the television. I found a bottle that resembled the one the program mentioned in here, and I desired to experiment! Do you wish to join me?" she asked happily. Robin stepped forward and picked up the white bottle she had squeezed dry and read the label.

"Ahm… Star?"

"Yes Robin?"

"Star, this is shampoo." Robin stated blankly.

She took the bottle back from him and stared at the label, trying to hide her confusion from him. He noticed that as she stared at the bottle, she didn't appear to actually be reading it. Her eyes didn't skitter from left to right in the analization of each letter, but instead she tried to look at the letters up and down, right to left, even flipping the bottle from side to side and even -for a brief moment- upside down, trying to get an idea of what the label read. She paused, unsure of what to do or say, realizing that Robin was watching her as she did this.

Starfire then put on a fake expression of sudden epiphany, and turned her head back to Robin, saying "Oh, of course it is the shampoo! I have made the error of selecting the wrong bottle!" and she reached for another bottle that was perched on the sink, looking back at the Boy Wonder for his approval, but instead his expression only grew more puzzled.

"Star… That's.. toothpaste." Robin said, growing concerned. What was wrong with Starfire? He understood from time to time she would misunderstand little Earth culture things, like how mustard is only a condiment, or how to play board games, but nothing like this. This was out of Starfire's ordinary.

Robin had a troubling feeling he knew what the problem was, as she could not mislead the great detective that he was, and so he asked her gently, "Star…. Can you read English? Did you ever learn how?"

She sighed, looking down at the tile floor of the bathroom. The dismal alien avoided eye contact, and blushed profusely. She was caught. Starfire had been hiding this truth from her teammates, afraid they would think she was too stupid to know how to read or write their native language. Starfire truly believed they would laugh at her and think a foreign idiot had no place on the team.

The last thing she wanted was for Robin to see her this way; unable to do something he could with ease. Not taking her eyes away from the floor she spoke quietly, "No Robin, I cannot read the English language. Tamaranian abilities only compensate one to learn the language by word of mouth. Concerning the English language, I am an illiterate_ clorbag_."

Robin absolutely hated to see her in this state. He hated himself for basically being the one to make her feel so badly about herself. He walked over to her and knelt down to meet her gaze. Her green eyes peeked up to meet his and she blushed harder, in a soft voice he said "Hey, it's alright Star. I don't care If you can't read English. It doesn't make me think any different of the Starfire I know."

"Truly?" she asked him

"Truly." he replied grinning at her, as he rose from the shampoo covered floor to grab a towel to clean up the mess. When the floor was (mostly) shampoo-free, he took another towel and handed it to her to clean herself off. The Boy Wonder took her hand and pulled the girl to her feet.

"You know, I wouldn't mind teaching you how to read, Star," he blurted out, finding a boyish grin on his face.

"Robin, surely you do not mean that, I-" she started, but he cut her off and took her hands in his.

"Starfire, to teach you anything I can about Earth would be my greatest pleasure. And you said it yourself, I am really bored." He said, raising an eyebrow. She was sold. "C'mon," he said and they left the bathroom together. Robin led her through the halls, heading for his room.

"Really, It's nothing to be ashamed of at all," Robin said, "I can't say I blame you. I've lived on this planet all my life and I can't tell you I even know how to speak half of the languages around the world, let alone read or write them." He was trying to comfort her. He knew it couldn't be easy to try and live in a place where you barely know the language. But what he said made Starfire wonder about who Robin was. She realized there was so little she actually knew about the Boy Wonder, and so she asked, "How many of Earth's languages do you know, Robin?"

"Just English," he said, but the words "_and a bit of Romanian_." quickly slipped out of his mouth in a murmur that surprised him.

"What?"

"Nothing Star." he retreated, "I only really know English, as pathetic as that sounds" Robin said, smiling sheepishly. _Why even bring that up,_ he thought miserably. _It's not something she should even know right now, It's not something anyone should know…. for awhile. Or maybe not? Maybe she has the right by now, she is my best friend after-_

"Robin?"

"Yeah?" he asked, snapping out of his daze, responding to the only name she knew him by.

"It is nothing. You were merely… 'staring off into the outer space' as they say, and we have been standing outside of your room for minutes now." she said, intrigued as to why Robin had "spaced out" so suddenly. Robin blinked, fully returning to the world from his thoughts.

"You're right, sorry. Um, come inside, and I can look for what I have." he said awkwardly, opening the door and showing her into his room.

.

*A/N: Now, I know that Star CAN absorb both spoken and written languages, but please, I assure you that if you continue to read on all will be revealed!

Truth be told this IS actually a completed fic. I'm going to post the chapters a few at a time because there are some I still need to edit out a little bit.

**PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW.** Share your thoughts and keep reading. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 2

Robin looked around his room, searching for any books he may possibly have. Books that Starfire could read without overwhelming herself, that is. He knew he had a couple of children's books kicking around somewhere. But instead, his desk, shelves, and closet were only home to weapons, birdarangs, bombs, grappling hook wires, and other little mechanisms that lived in Robin's utility belt.

Other than the weapons scattered everywhere, his room was quite clean. The floor was clear, the bed was made, and there was no significant mess to be found anywhere. Starfire didn't exactly assume Robin's room to be in the same disorganized conditions as that of Beast Boy's but she also did not expect things to be so orderly, like a soldier's bunker. With weapons in exception, the room didn't look like it was lived in. Starfire stood in the middle of the floor, watching Robin shuffle through various cabinets and other compartments, only making her want to help him in some way, shape, or form.

"Robin, perhaps we could ask Raven if we could borrow one of her books to use?" Starfire suggested.

Robin ran a gloved hand through his spiked jet black hair in bothered thought and replied, "Star, as good an idea as that is, I don't think even_ I_ could read one of Raven's books even if I tried."

"That may be a problem Boy of Wonder, as it seems we may have no other choice."

"Just… give me a second Star, I'm sure I can find something somewhere.." Robin replied with notable joy in his tone. He loved it when she called him 'Boy of Wonder'. The title was one Robin felt he'd outgrown a long time ago, and any mention of it would usually vex him, but the way Starfire used it, speech impediments and all, was something that made him feel almost tickled. Of course he'd never tell her that, but it was one of the many things she did that could put him at ease and actually make him smile.

Venturing into the the farthest back corner of his closet on his hands and knees, Robin found what he had been rummaging around for; a small, dusty, old box sat on the floor, sealed shut, beside a familiar titanium briefcase. Robin opened up the box, rifling through the contents, until finally his hands found 3 books the boy had owned for nearly his entire life amongst old papers and photographs. He revealed the books to her, whilst also hiding the rest of the valuables that lay in the bottom of the box.

"Robin, I was not aware you kept children's books around in your dwelling," giggled Starfire, eyeing the faded bright colors and yellowing pages.

"Hey, I only have a few of them, okay?" he replied, laughing at his own embarrassment, "I used to love these so I figured why get rid of them?" He held out one book to her, saying, "I'm thinking we should start here. This is the alphabet, Star. It's 26 different letters that we put together to form words. Make sense?"

"Yes, But how am I to memorize these 26 letters?" She asked, a tad bit flustered at how difficult this may be.

"Don't worry, We've got this book to help, and there's a song that everyone knows that we would use to remember." Robin reassured, "It's not as hard as it seems, I promise" He sat down on the floor, and Starfire joined him as he opened the book to the first page.

"This is the first letter, the letter 'A'" Robin said, pointing at the paper

"'A'." Star repeated obediently,

"Okay," Robin said, turning the page "the next letter after 'A' is 'B'," he traced the letter on the paper with his finger, and she did the same.

"'B'."

"Good." Robin grinned at her. The two of them never got to spend time like this, and he absolutely loved it. No villains to battle, no hysteria, no fate of the city weighing down on their shoulders. Only Robin teaching Starfire about Earth in every way he could, both of them enjoying every minute of it. Starfire thought, _Robin is so kind to me to be willing to do this for me. I cannot think of any other friend who would be willing to teach me how to read and write,_ as she helped him turn the pages of the alphabet book that Starfire thought he probably hadn't touched in over a decade.

When they came to 'Z', Starfire asked, "Robin, how is the song you had earlier mentioned sung? I wish to learn it so that remembering the 26 letters will not be difficult"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. Here, I'll go through it, and you can repeat after me," he paused and added, "I will warn you though, I joined the hero business for a reason, and that is because I couldn't make it as a singer." This made Starfire break into peals of laughter that followed by his own laughter as well. Robin then took a breath, and began to sing the alphabet for the Tamaranian,

"_A, B, C, D, E, F, G_" he began, his voice sweet and low, going through the familiar melody that had lived in the back of his mind since he was a small child. Starfire repeated the verse, her soft, blissful voice making Robin's skin prickle and his face begin to blush.

"_H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P,_" He continued, and she repeated.

"_Q, R, S, T, U, V,_" he paused before the end, she looked into his eyes, waiting. He looked back and blushed,

"_W, X, Y, and Z… Now I know my ABCs, next time won't you you sing with me._"

"But Robin, I _did_ sing with you." Starfire pouted.

Robin laughed and said, "It's only part of the song, Star"

The alien paused for a moment in deep thought, and declared "The Alphabet song sounds vaguely similar to one of your Earthen lullabies" Robin considered this, hummed a few lines and said, "Oh yeah, I guess it does. _'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'_."

"My inquiry for you is, which song is plagiarizing the other?" Starfire asked Robin, intrigued over the conspiracy secret between the two nursery rhymes.

Robin blandly said, "Starfire, I haven't the slightest clue," with a very stoic and serious expression. A grand total of three seconds passed before the two burst out laughing.

Robin flipped through the pages and asked, "Do you want to reread the book again? We only merely went over the letters."

Starfire replied, "I am willing to learn whatever you must teach me."

And so the two reread the alphabet book, Robin explaining the different sounds each letter could make, reading through simple sentences such as 'A' is for Apple, and 'B' is for Bird. When they got to Z is for Zebra, and Robin finished explaining what a zebra was to Starfire, she asked him, "Robin, could we make our own alphabet acronyms?" pointing to the sentence that caught her eye, S is for Stars with a picture of a star that she recognized.

"Sure thing Star, I think that's a good idea," She beamed as he grabbed a pen and some scrap paper from his desk before walking back to where they had settled on the floor, both cross-legged side-by-side with the book laid out.

"What should 'A' stand for, do you think?" asked Robin. Starfire pondered the question, an adorable twisted expression upon her face as she looked at the ceiling in intense thought. Then she had a lightbulb and blurted out,

"A shall be for Acrobat!" Robin cringed at the word.

"Ahm.. where'd you get that one from, Star?" he asked, nervous and on-edge at the random upbringing of that one particular word.

"Robin, you have always reminded me of the acrobatic people I have seen who fly on the television and do the flips and such that I have seen you do the exact same!" she exclaimed,

"Oh… ahm, well, what should 'B' stand for?" he asked, changing the subject as quickly as he could,

"'B' shall represent Beast Boy of course!" she chirped,

"So… should C stand for Cyborg?" he asked. She approved, and watched as he wrote out each word. As the time flew by they went letter by letter; 'H' standing for 'Heroes', 'T' standing for Titans, or Titans Tower, 'M' stood for Mustard, until they nearly reached the end.

"S is for Starfire," Robin said, adding her name to their list as she smiled.

"And R is for Robin!" she joyously exclaimed,

Robin smiled at her and said, "Funny how those two are right next to each other," pointing to the list.

"Peculiar coincidence indeed." she agreed. then suddenly they both looked down and realized with eyes widening and cheeks going red,

The two had been holding hands the whole time.

.  
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A/N: Woohoo! ABCs and sudden romantic tension! How lovely!

Please **rate&review**

Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 3

Robin was the first to look away from what their hands appeared to be doing, with her hand lying -almost naturally- in his. _How did that even happen?_ Robin thought, _What am I doing?! What do I say!?_ His heart was a hummingbird fluttering in his ribcage, and his stomach was turning somersaults, Starfire was still looking at him; her head innocently tilted in a gesture of naive curiosity. She didn't understand, and he wished that in a sense she did. The silence was growing thicker as the seconds ticked by, building a wall between them brick by brick.

"Robin?" Starfire began, she wasn't even entirely sure of what to say. She knew that on Earth, holding hands meant that the two people doing so were intimate… but in a way she could not wrap her head around. She'd seen people in the city parks who would hold hands, and often times this could be followed by the kissing, an act she was (quite literally) alien to.

But, she and Robin would hold their hands at least once or twice in every fight against every villain the Titans had ever faced. It was imperative, He could not fly, and often times she would fling him at the criminals from above. The strategy never failed._ So why does this feel so… not normal?_ she thought, and he still did not respond to her, making Starfire grow even more perplexed. Somehow, Robin broke the silence,

"So Star," he picked up quickly, slipping his hand out from hers to flip through the alphabet book that lay open on their laps, "do you think you've got the alphabet?"

"Yes Robin, I do believe I have "gotten" the concept of the 26 let- erm, the alphabet." She replied. Her hand felt odd, without the warmth and feeling of his cradling it. Just as he was about to suggest what they should do next, there was a knock at his door, startling the two of them, and in seconds the door slid open without warning.

"Dudes! What have you been doing all day?!" Beast Boy cried, making entrance. Raven also peeked into Robin's room,

"We didn't know whether you were still alive in here," she deadpanned with a detectable trace of sarcasm. Immediately, Robin stood up and kicked his books underneath his bed.

"Funny, Raven," Robin said wryly, "Has it really been hours?" He looked at his alarm clock, stalling while he tried to think of an alibi for Starfire being in his room. All day. Suspiciously.

"Well, you see guys, we really weren't doing anything too great to miss out on. We were… ahm… we were just.. um.." He stammered, making the situation sound worse than it even was. He knew Starfire would be heartbroken if he told them about her… predicament. But what else do you tell your roommates instead, when you've had a girl in your room for practically the entire day?

Suddenly, coming to his rescue, Starfire stood as well and said, "Friends! Robin had asked me earlier today if I could teach him a bit of the Tamaranian language!" She bent down on the floor to gather the scrap paper that littered his floor, "Robin, do you remember what the phrase _Zalworg Tobeckplizing Zorgmorke_ translates to?" She asked, and Robin grinned in return. Starfire could be tremendously clever right on the spot if she needed to , and this time was no exception. Now, it was Robin's turn to engage in the improv,

"Ahmmm…." Robin pondered, looked up at the ceiling, holding his chin, "trying" to "remember", Starfire covered her mouth trying not to giggle at their charade, "I can't say I do remember Star, I _swear_ it's on the tip of my tongue."

"Are you certain you cannot remember?" She asked coyly. Now she was just messing with him, in a way that Robin thought kind, naive Starfire was not capable of. He just grinned at her sheepishly and replied,

"Positive, Star. I can't remember a thing about that one. Your language is harder than it looks…." He turned to Raven and Beast Boy, "this… is embarrassing."

"Flashcards, dude," Beast Boy said to Robin "'bet they'd help. Man, I never knew you were so hopeless at learning other langua- OWTCH!" He was cut off by a swift elbow to his rib, delivered by Raven.

"Well, obviously you two are… busy, I guess. We'll just be going. Don't... stay up here all day. Or do, I don't care." Raven said, turning to walk out the door, dragging a whimpering Beast Boy behind her.

As soon as the door closed, Robin let loose a huge sigh of relief. "That, was close." he said, ducking underneath his bed to retrieve the hidden books.

"Robin?" Starfire asked,

"Yeah Star," Robin said, gathering things off the floor, books tucked under his arm.

"I wish to thank you for not revealing my secret." Starfire said. Robin looked at her. He stood, tossing his things on his bed and walked over to her.

"Star, did you think I ever would?" he was slightly hurt she had less faith in him to keep her secret safe.

"I was not certain what exactly _was_ going to happen when Raven and Beast Boy entered… I'd rather no one would know but you… for the moment." She said, trying to turn away, but Robin wouldn't allow for that. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Hey, look at me, Star." Her eyes met his mask, and he spoke to her ever so gently,

"Starfire, I wouldn't tell anyone about it, I promise. You can trust me with anything you need to, okay?" She looked at him, and she just knew by the way he talked to her, she could trust him. Robin was her best friend after all. He didn't seem like one who would, who_ could_ easily break a promise.

"Robin?"

"Starfire?"

…

"I believe you."


	4. Chapter 4

**TEACHING STAR TO READ **

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 4

Hours flew by faster than Robin and Starfire possibly could have been aware of. Mainly, Robin focused solely on teaching Starfire to read… as teaching her penmanship was _not_ something he wanted them to immediately delve into. Starfire never knew the Boy Wonder's patience was as endless as it had appeared. No matter how long she would be stuck on a single word, he'd wait it out quietly, seeing if she could do it herself first. He'd push her gently, and challenge her with new jumbles of words in his childhood storybooks.

Starfire had rarely seen this side of Robin. He was usually fierce and deliberate, whether in battle or training; he was on-edge practically all around the clock. This calm and composed Robin did not exist when they trained in the gym. In a combat practice, he could be brutal. He made certain that everyone was pushed to their absolute limit, while he himself pushed to the brink of collapsing. Of _combustion. _The way he would practice didn't frighten Starfire per se, but rather it concerned her. Dozens of times, the punching bags needed to be replaced, re-hung, and refilled with sand after growing beaten and weary as Robin's victims.

Little did she know after his hours of vigorous exercise, he would drag himself into his room to literally _collapse_ face down for _hours. _If he was lucky, he could remain there and allow himself to sleep, but it was more likely he would end up brooding in the evidence room, sorting through crime files, and killing himself with stacks upon stacks of paperwork. Justice never sleeps, and so neither did the Titan's leader.

"Hey Star?" He inquired, his voice pulling her out of her thoughts,

"Yes Robin?" She couldn't believe she allowed her mind to wander as it just had. It was no big deal, but still she reminded herself that paying rapt attention was the least she could do in return for his help.

"Star… we've read this book five times now." He stated, "I think you could use some new material."

"But Robin, we have no other books. How are we to obtain more when the Tower has none other than these?" She asked, not keen on wanting to try one of Raven's books on for size.

"Well," he thought aloud, "there's always the library."

"Li-brayr-ee?" She sounded out the word, unfamiliar to the place, until something clicked in her head, "Oh! Raven has mentioned such place before!" she announced jubilantly.

"Yeah, I bet we could go over and find some books to borrow sometime."

Starfire thought about what he said. _Oh, he says this as if we shall go another time. But if we do not go today, will we ever have the opportunity? _

"I think for today," he continued, "you've learned enough that we should take a brea-"

"Oh but Robin, I wish to go the library right at this moment!" she exclaimed, cutting him off.

_Wow, she's really serious about this, _he thought to himself, _I didn't think she'd be so eager to learn. _Then he remembered that this was _Starfire._ Starfire, who had watched educational documentaries for weeks on end when she first came to Earth. It was Starfire who always managed to get the Titans out of the Tower to have fun and relax, so that in turn she could see and learn everything she possibly could about Earth during every outing. It was Starfire, who, during her first month on Earth had followed Robin around like a lost puppy, asking question after question about Earthly concepts like that of a five-year-old. _Robin, why is the sky blue here? Robin, why is the mustard merely a condiment? Robin, why do you print pictures of people's faces on your currency? _Upon the recollection of all of this, the Boy Wonder was no longer as surprised at her little outburst.

"Um… Sure, sure Star, we could go now." He said, and she beamed. Starfire was never one to ask for much from anybody. She was immensely grateful Robin would oblige to take her to the library.

"Wonderful!" she cried, taking his hand and dragging him to full-wall window in his room that looked over the city.

"Star- Star wait!" he gasped, but she already slid the glass opening aside and dove out the window, hundreds of feet in the air, while Robin clutched onto her hand for dear life as they plummeted down, down, down. The two looked at each other, both upside down and completely calm as the world flew by and the ground slowly grew closer to them as they continued to fall.

"So," Robin grinned, "You gonna start flying or what?" She giggled and took both of his hands close to her, he blushed. Suddenly, they thrust upwards and were gliding through the air over the water near the skyscrapers of the city.

"Y'know," Robin pointed out smartly, "we could have just taken my R-Cycle."

"Yes," Starfire replied, "but would that actually be as fun as this?"

Robin laughed, and said "Good point." as they flew on, and soon entered the heart of Jump City. Tall, grey buildings sprung up and plentiful as blades of grass in a field, and the streets below were filled with cars, buses, and people bustling like ants, and appeared to be the size of such from Robin and Starfire's view from above.

Starfire abruptly stopped her flight and simply hung in the air, both of Robin's hands in hers. He looked up at her, his expression questioning their sudden stop. She looked around, but every building looked the same, how would they find the library?

"Robin… Where _is _the library?" She asked. He paused, and pondered this for a moment, scanning the rows and rows of city buildings all around them. A bird flew by.

"Not exactly sure." he replied, "We didn't really stop to think about this part, did we?"

Starfire gave a warm laugh in response. They floated, suspended in mid-air in silence for a moment.

Robin looked back up at her, saying "Y'know, this is kinda nice." He'd flown with her before, but never once had they just simply hung in the air before. They had been in the air for minutes now, yet no civilians from below seemed to notice the two Titans just simply… _there_. Then Starfire made a small restless noise that startled Robin and caused him to look up at her once again.

Out of the silence between them, she blurted out, "How are we going to find the library?"

"We'll find it, Star, I'm sure of it." He replied, reassuring the distraught alien.

Luckily, it did not take too long for the library to be found. After skimming through the city a few times over, checking near the schools and other places, they finally found the small building tucked away between the city's hospital and a nearby elementary school.

Robin and Starfire made their appearance, touching down from above and onto the pavement at the entrance of the library, predictably drawing the attention of pedestrians towards their direction. After all, how often did the city see two of their city's heroes in town… going to the _library _of all places? Upon entering, Robin whispered to the alien "Now, we've got to be quiet in here okay?"

"But Robin, why must we be silent? Must it not be known we are here?" She whispered back, her face growing concerned and her eyes widening in a fret.

"No, no, it's just policy. We don't want to disturb people who are reading here by being too loud, that's all." he said, and began to walk through the mute building, in search of the children's section.

"Ah! I understand!" she whispered back smiling, and followed after him.

They found the children's section of the library, which thankfully, was empty. Robin decided this was fortunate, as he didn't want his and Starfire's presence to create a scene with the two of them bombarded with small children. His only covet at that moment was to be in the library with Starfire, and allow himself to forget who he was for a little while and just be _normal, _or, as close as normal gets when you're at a library picking out children's books for your best friend who is also an alien, whom you are also teaching how to read English, whom you _also _have incomprehensible feelings for. Realizing this was basically his definition of normal, Robin laughed aloud to himself. Starfire cocked her head to the side in curiosity of her friend's random outburst, which made several people around the library utter a '_shush!' _sound that she had come to know as meaning, 'quiet!'.

Robin looked over at Starfire and whispered, "I was just thinking how unusual it is that we're here today," he took a second and then added, "I mean.. isn't it weird?"

"Yes, I suppose it is strange that you and I would partake in the 'going-out' and 'hanging-out' activities" She giggled softly, her words causing Robin to blush copiously. '_Going out?' _he thought, _Did she just say we were going out? _he was frozen in his feet and unsure of what even to say.

"Robin….?" Starfire whispered. _I have said something not-normal… but what?_ she thought.

"Star…. ahm…. uhhh.." Robin started, inside he was screaming with embarrassment. "Star, I wouldn't exactly call this…. _'going out'_" he squirmed, his face still bright red.

"But Robin… did we not _go out _of the Tower together to come here and ensue the obtaining of literature?" She asked, her head tilted in a signal of confusion as to how she had made the Boy Wonder so disturbed.

"Yes, yes we did. But ah…. _going out _is also a term for two people who are… uh.." he stammered, unsure of where to turn next. "Look," he said, "It just means something else, okay?"

"Robin, why do you not speak your mind?" Starfire asked,

"What?"

"Why do you not tell me what you are feeling?" She pressed, stepping closer to him. He took a step back, _No. I can't. It isn't right, _his mind was racing. _I can't I cant I cant I cant IcantIcantIcantIcant-_

_"_Robin_ please," _She looked hurt, confused, even. Robin was beginning to feel as though he had returned to the time when they were stranded on that alien planet ages ago. Starfire had confronted him about his feelings, and somehow through the calamity of it all, he still managed to dodge the question. But _here, now,_ he was trapped. He didn't have the faintest idea of what to say, and he knew he couldn't try to deceive her. She may be a little naive, but she was too clever to be bypassed on the subject. So when her eyes began to narrow at him, and her brow furrowed, he only became more uneasy.

"Star, don't make me explain this _here_," Robin looked around, paranoid that someone was listening to them, perhaps heads were turning. Of course, no one was.

"Please, when we get home, okay?" he begged her,

"Robin…"

"Star _please,"_ he squeaked, in a whisper so low she could just barely hear him.

"you know I'm not good at.. at… _talking _about this stuff with you. With anyone." He tugged at his collar. Feelings never were a strong point for the Titan's leader. As the child-protégé of the Batman, he was emotionally drained. He could take down a monster of any size, yet when it came to his feelings, Robin was lost.

"You think I do not know you are unable to tell me how you feel?" She asked him rhetorically, whispering as quietly as he was, though her voice was torn and nonplussed,

"You don a _mask _at all times, Robin. You do not tell _anyone _how you feel. You have hidden your eyes from the world, Robin, from _me._"

"Starfire," He spoke solemnly, "I have an identity to protect,"

"An identity you cannot even trust your own team with?" She asked quietly, and that was the final question that stung him. Her words were drowning him at this point. He felt like he was being compressed into a ball; pushed in at all angles of his body, with his air supply cutting out, and then he popped like a balloon upon the release of her last question. Robin needed to get out of there immediately.

Robin gave her a wounded look and whispered, "That hurt, Star."

He turned and left her in the children's wing of the library.

And she did not follow.

.

.

A/N: So that's chapter 4 O.O

I am so grateful people have chosen to read and _keep_ reading this!

Please give me thoughts on what you think so far by ***RATING AND REVIEWING***

Thanks so much! Chapter 5 is on the way!


	5. Chapter 5

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 5

Starfire knew she had gone too far, and she regretted it immensely . She stood alone in the library, not sure of what to do. Robin was gone, and she had hurt him in a way she didn't know he was capable of being injured. He was always so strong. She never thought that words were capable of making him fall apart as they had when she accused him of distrust.

She sat down on the ground beside a bookshelf and pulled out a book that had a picture on the front of two rabbits in a field that caught her eye, thinking, _Perhaps I can do this myself. It is not as if Robin would _want_ to continue teaching me, at this point. _She wondered if he would even speak to her again, after she had been so unfair to him. The more she thought of this possibility, the more it worsened the guilt that was already overflowing in her heavy heart and behind her eyes. She pulled her arms around her knees and hunched into a ball on the floor. She set the book on the floor in front of her. Starfire squinted at the title, running a finger along each word and letter, trying to sound them out as Robin had taught her. But somehow, the words failed her. She was too upset, she couldn't focus. Shaking her head in frustration, Starfire tried again,

"Guh- Guehh…. Gues…. _Xhal!" _she cried, flinging the book away in frustration and angered disappointment. If her temper were shorter, the book would be smoldering ashes by that point, But Starfire managed to collect herself. She knew she needed Robin's help, but would he accept an apology? She wasn't sure. _Earth boys are so complicated. _She held her head in her hands, _What have I done? _She thought, _Why did I persist he told me what he feels?_ She pondered this, and suddenly her answer was realized,

_Because… I need to know if he feels the same for me._

She knew that finding Robin would be no easy task. He wouldn't be at the Tower_,_ this much she could discern about the Boy Wonder. When Robin was upset, he did one of two things; he would either bury himself in his room with work for days, or he would be out sauntering through the dark of the city on a patrol. Starfire knew for a fact that he would not be at the Tower. She would be able to find him there, and it was clear that in his current state he didn't want to be found. It was also evident to her that he wouldn't even try to get back to the Tower by himself; he didn't have his R-Cycle, and they were much too far away from the coast of the city, let alone the Tower itself, which sat on the water quite a ways from shore.

Starfire had to find Robin. With every minute that passed she grew more and more worried about where he might be. He couldn't get home without her. Or rather, he couldn't _easily _get home without her, though it was possible he would certainly _try_. _He's done more foolish things before, _she thought, and this was true. Whenever injured or in any case of setback, Robin always tried to keep up with the rest of the team. She could not easily forget the countless times he would take a blow for her. Robin would take attacks from villains that could shatter his bones, just so that she would not get hurt. He was always the one there to catch her when she fell. She had always thought that the things he did were a way Robin would show he was not just a human, but now she was beginning to believe he did these things because maybe….

"Maybe…. he has love for me."

Immediately Starfire was back in the air and over the city. _I must find Robin_. Sometimes when he left, he could be gone for hours, almost entire days. Once, he was missing for two full days, but the act left the rest of the team and Starfire especially in such alarm, he promised he wouldn't do it ever again. She tried her communicator. Nothing. She wasn't surprised, but the attempt was worth a try.

Her jade green eyes skimmed over the arrays of buildings that stretched throughout the city for miles around her. Even in his traffic-light uniform, Robin was nowhere to be seen. Never had she been the one who needed to track Robin down, and never had she been so frantic that she could not find him. The sun was going down, and the sky was dampening to a sleepy purple as it set.

She had to find him, she _had to. _Starfire would never forgive herself if she didn't. She knew that Robin wouldn't come looking for her in order to get home safely, nor would he swallow his pride and take a bus or any other means of transportation to make the task easier on himself. He may only be human, but that didn't mean he would take an easy way out if it were available.

With every minute that ticked by with Robin still unfound, Starfire grew more anxious, her stomach knotting with worry. If Robin were hurt, it was her fault. What would she tell her teammates? That, despite everything he had done for her that day, she had to go and selfishly push him to the point he ran away?

Waves of guilt began to shake her; she couldn't think clearly, and the more she searched, the harder and harder it was for her to summon the happiness she needed to possess in order to keep flying. She was slowly losing flight, the consciousness of her power failing, and before she could realize it, Starfire was tumbling down from the skies.

She gasped for the air that rushed around her as she plummeted faster and faster. Landing safely, she knew, would be impossible at this point, and crashing into the ground was inevitable. Still, as she came closer to the ground, she wailed out Robin's name in her pure dread as she fell like a star out of the sky.

By some blind coincidence, Robin wasn't far from Starfire at the time. He sat on the roof of a skyscraper hundreds of feet in the air with his knees drawn up and his head in his hands. The boy's heart had been twisted by her words, and it was already twisted enough to begin with. _You have hidden your eyes from the world, Robin, from me. An identity you cannot even trust your own team with? _her voice echoed through his troubled head over and over. He clutched his head harder, trying to get her voice out, trying to make everything around him _stop. _But he couldn't. He just couldn't.

Then, a cry split through the silent dusk of the evening and went through Robin's body like a ghost. His ears pulled his head upward toward the sound, and there falling through the sky was Starfire. The blood in his body ran cold as ice water. He stood frozen in shock for a split second, his eyes fixed on her, and unable to tear away from the achingly beautiful sight of her dropping from the above. She writhed as she came down from the air in a tortured dance, and her long, ruby hair tangled and hid her face, but he didn't need to see her expression to know she was frightened as she cried out his name. _Why isn't she flying? Why isn't she flying? Oh god, she's going to_-

Robin didn't dare let himself even finish thinking of that. He was too occupied with motion. Quickly, he launched a grappling hook and swung to the ground from the top of the building he was perched on, slamming hard into the concrete ground, but he didn't allow himself to slow for the pain that shrieked out in his knees as his skin was split wide open from the rough impact. Then, Robin ran. He ran as fast as he could, trying to run faster than his mere human body would allow, possibly the fastest he'd ever ran in his life, as Starfire drew nearer and nearer to the ground.

Of course… he couldn't have made it.

Forty feet away from him, Starfire touched the ground below. As her body connected to the concrete ground, a pronounced _thwack _echoed through a darkened alleyway, and it made Robin shudder and shake uncontrollably as he tore through the long backstreet to where she lay still on her back. He fell to his knees and held her face in his hands, which were still quivering violently beneath his gloves. Starfire's bright green eyes did not open, and her body remained unmoving and curled up from the pain of impact. Fear and shock had stolen Robin's voice, as he held her in complete silence and disbelief that he let this happen. _I couldn't catch you… I've _always _caught you, but I couldn't… Why? Why did I have to leave you alone? Why did you fall, Starfire? Why?_

His thoughts tore through him at boundless rapidity, but it felt as though he was stuck in a realm that held no time. Once again, the boy had watched someone he loved fall right in front of him, and he was as helpless now as he was as a child.

Waves of melancholy crashed over him in such an instant, he unearthed his voice and let out the noise of a quiet, stifled sob. A cry was welling up in his chest, and he wanted to howl out into the empty streets, but he wouldn't let himself. Only small noises of his pain slipped by the barrier he kept on his emotions and escaped out of his mouth, as his mask grew damp. In the muted darkness of the alley he uttered the words "I'm sorry."

And he sat there, in a spreading puddle of his own blood, clutching Starfire's body. He didn't check her pulse, he didn't even cup his ear to her mouth to feel for a breath. He was too afraid to accept that reality. _That would only make this real, _he thought.

But little did he know in the fading light, that Starfire's chest still rose and fell, and she was in fact, still breathing and still alive.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly to find she was in nearly complete darkness, and strangely; being held by someone. A sudden pain flowed up in the back of her skull, and she winced. _What has happened? _She asked to herself. Without turning her head, she peered up to see it was Robin who was clutching her, and he was sitting on the concrete. His breathing was shaky and uneven.

"Robin?" Her voice was soft. The Boy Wonder looked down to her instantaneously and his eyes widened in astonishment.

"_Starfire." _he pulled her up to his chest and buried his face into her shoulder. Her voice, her eyes open, she was _alive, _and the shock had completely overwhelmed him. Starfire flushed at his sudden impulse, but leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him in return.

"Robin what _happened?" _she asked in curiosity and bewilderment. His words were muffled from being so close to her, he pulled away to meet her face and said slowly,

"You fell, Star. You fell… right out of the sky and…and I couldn't catch you. Why couldn't you fly? Are you hurt?" he prodded gently at her arms to check for broken bones. Not surprisingly, she was completely unscathed. The fortitude of her alien body made her nearly resilient to the impact of the fall, despite the concrete of the street was indented and smashed-in where she had fallen. Regardless that Robin knew this, he was still out of control in worry. A part of him had been screaming that she needed to be okay, and the knowledge of her abilities that his brain held did him no good, as his brain had been practically unresponsive when she fell.

"I am 'the okay', Robin, I promise. I merely have an ache in my head." she looked closer at him to see that his mask was damp with something, but then her gaze flew down to the massive amounts of blood that painted the street they knelt on.

"Robin, I believe _I _should be the one asking if _you _are-"

"I'm fine." He cut her off, trying to stand, but he fell back off his feet, wincing, " Agh, just… hurt my knees a bit, running after you." _I ran away? _She thought, and looked at him, confused.

"Why did you fall, Star?" He asked, his voice as innocent as a child's.

"Robin, when you left… I… went looking for you." She began, and he took her hands into his, "I was so afraid I would not be able to find you, I let my fear take over, and I began to fall." she choked out the last, and it was her turn to collapse into Robin.

He knew that her emotions were what fine-tuned her powers and kept them in check. Realizing he caused her so much fear made Robin wilt, as he figured out that when he ran away, _like a child, _he thought, that he had made her so fretful she couldn't control herself. But despite the guilt of the situation was crowding his brain, he couldn't help but let himself be awed that she cared that much about him.

"I'm so sorry I left you," he apologized softly, as he held her hands tighter, "I don't know why, but I just had to leave. It'll never happen again Star, I promise you that."

For a moment, her eyes brimmed with tears, but she smiled down and wiped them away with a quiet laugh to herself.

"Robin." She said only his name and nothing more. Then, he slipped his hands out of hers and pushed himself over to the back corner of the alley with a grunt. Steadying his hands against the two brick walls, he began to try and lift himself up and stand. Starfire only sat and watched him as he bared his teeth and groaned at the pain in his bloodied knees, knowing even if she tried, he'd insist he was capable of doing it himself. With a final controlled exhale, he was standing, leaning against the back wall for support, his arms spread wide against it. His green spandex were ripped at his wounded areas and nearly blackened with blood down to his ankles, and more blood was spattered on his boots. He looked down at the mess, and back at Starfire,

"You think I might need stitches?" he asked jokingly. She just sighed with a concerned smile as she stood and took his arm, wrapping it over herself so she could act as a crutch. Before he could contradict, she shot him a stubborn look, and he smiled weakly in defeat, allow her to walk them out of the alley and back to the open sidewalk. The sky was now a deep indigo, and the sun was now barely holding onto the sky, not quite ready to let the moon start coming up. They walked along for nearly ten minutes, before Robin told Starfire he needed a break and she found a bench for him to rest at.

Robin pulled his black cape around and tried to use it to slow the blood flow, Starfire sat next to him and helped put pressure on the injuries. They managed to slow it a bit, but from the past time he wasn't bleeding as profusely anyway. Robin leaned back on the bench and tipped his head upward, staring at the sky and saying nothing. Then Starfire leaned back and did the same. The stars were started to peek out, though still quite opaque in the mid-early dusk.

She exhaled a long sigh and closed her eyes, strangely at peace, with Robin watching the sky slowly grow darker as he continued to bleed from the severity of his wounds and they said nothing about what on Earth had happened between them earlier in the alleyway, or even the pandemonium at the library. Then randomly, he blurted out "Y'know... I really thought you were dead when I found you,"

"You thought that a little fall would take my life from me?" She replied, incredulous.

"I didn't know _what _to think Star, that fall, it could've… killed a human. And when I saw you, that instinctive thought wouldn't let me think straight." he replied. And he was right. _I know how far a fall needs to be to kill_, he thought as cold feeling slithered up his spine.

They sat in silence… until Robin asked again still looking up, "Does everyone else know about… this?"

"By 'this', do you mean the two of us compulsively leaving home to go to the library, only for you to have gone missing and I to have fallen?" One of her eyes peeked open and rolled over towards the Boy Wonder, and he nodded in response.

"Then… no" she replied, her head still back as well, her eyes closed again.

"Did you call the team when _I_ was unconscious?" she asked him,

"No."

"Oh."

"Hey," Robin goes, "would you… still want to go back to the library? Try again?" he asked

"Robin, we really should get you some form of medical attention," She objected firmly, though deep inside herself she was pleased that he still remembered they needed books.

"Yeah..." he paused, and sat up, facing her, " but you wanted to get new books, and that's what's important to me at the moment." She sat up slowly, face flushed and looked at him.

"And also," he added, smiling, "Isn't that what we came out here for today in the first place?"

She hesitated for a moment, but her heart told her to just consent. Let him do what he had wanted to for her. She nodded, and decided, "We may go to the library." her announcement made Robin chuckle. She rose from the bench and stood in front of him. He held his arms out to her helplessly and smiled sweetly, she grabbed his hands and pulled him up to her slowly. Blushing, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and her cheeks grew pink at the gesture.

"So, You gonna start flying, or what?" he grinned widely, his nose practically to hers', and she giggled just as she had before at the question. She shot up like a rocket and Robin's hold around her tightened as they glided over the city. The street lamps were beginning to light through the streets and the dark of night had finally kissed the sky.

They recognized the library with familiarity this time, and luckily it was still allowing people in. Even luckier, nobody saw the two battered Titans enter and weave through the bookshelves to the children's area.

Robin narrowed his eyes, hunting through the shelves, peering out for titles he recognized from his childhood. Some books he pulled from the shelves made him grow wistful, and remember when his mother had read these stories to him when he was small. But he hid his sadness, as he didn't want Starfire to worry. Starfire had worried about him quite enough for that evening.

Starfire sat in a nearby chair in the dimly lit library and watched Robin pick through the shelves, going "Oh," and "Aha!" when he found books that she assumed were familiar to him. He steadied himself with his arms straight out to lean against the ledges of the shelves so he could move easily without hurting himself too much. He must have pulled out a dozen books, she thought. Each, he insisted her with a grin, was one that he knew she would love.

"Robin, I do not believe our purpose of being here was to clear out the entirety of the children's area" She whispered, giggling as he slid a thirteenth book out from the shelf.

"I am _no-ot"_ he denied, laughing, "There are just a _couple_ I think would be best for you. I don't intend on borrowing the entire library."

"I would hope not, Boy of Wonder. Heroes do not steal libraries!" she wagged a finger at him, as she said this, and then burst into peals of sweet laughter. Robin felt elated at the 'Boy of Wonder' comment. To please her, he put a few books back where he found them. Robin then ambled over to Starfire and laid out his 'finds' across the small table in front of them. '_The Giving Tree', 'Are You My Mother?', 'Curious George', 'The Little Engine that Could', 'Runaway Bunny,' 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish,' 'Goodnight Moon', 'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane', _and a book Starfire pulled out herself that she insisted was "essential"; _'The Golden Book of Fairy Tales', _lay across the surface of the small table. Just as they were about to gather everything up to leave, the padding sound of feet walking on carpet towards them stopped Robin and Starfire dead in their tracks. The librarian, a short, middle-aged woman stopped in her tracks and blinked at them from across the room.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't think anyone was still here, let alone two _Titans_." Then her eyes wandered down to Robin's legs and she dropped the books she was carrying in surprise.

"Oh g-god," She stuttered, "Should I call an ambulance? Are you-?"

"'Just fine." Robin reassured calmly, still leaning on the table, "Don't worry about it."

"This sounds terrible to ask, but you didn't happen to bleed on the carpet somewhere did you?" she asked nervously. Robin looked around him. Most of the blood from his wounds had dried to his legs at this point, but it didn't look any less worse.

"Uh, no ma'am, I don't think so." Robin replied. Starfire added "We were most careful not to. We are here to do the borrowing of the books."

"I can see that," The librarian smiled, then her brow furrowed as she asked, "But what, may I ask, brings you to the children's section...?" Starfire immediately quieted and Robin said quickly,

"Oh, these are for Beast Boy." gesturing to the pile, "He's… easily amused." Robin grinned and Starfire covered her mouth, giggling.

"Ah. That's all very well and good," the librarian replied, "but unfortunately, library policies only allow you to borrow six books at a time. I'm sorry." Starfire looked at Robin with a concerned expression on her face as if to say, _What do we do?_

"It's okay," he whispered to her, "chin up, we can borrow others later. Pick the six you want to take home tonight, and we'll get to the rest when we'll get to the rest." with his reassurance, he managed to coax a little smile out of the alien.

"I'll just be at the front desk to check those out for you, take your time." The librarian smiled and turned to walk back, Robin followed and Starfire quickly gathered 6 books from the pile and returned the rest to the shelves.

As Robin limped behind the librarian, he noticed a book that lay forgotten on the floor a few feet away from him. He knelt to pick it up and turned it over. The cover read, '_Guess How Much I Love You? By Sam McBratney'_. Two rabbits, a big one and a little one sat together on the cover. Like the others, this book was read to Robin as a child many years before, but this book in particular was almost haunting to him to find it out of the blue. The little boy in the deepest confinement of his heart begged him to open the book and to read it again. But he hesitated.

Then Robin turned his head to see Starfire had chosen her books and was walking towards him. This was all for Starfire, he remembered. Maybe… maybe if he could read this to her, he could give her a hint. The thought brought a grin to his face and he stood and turned to her,

with the book tucked behind his back.

.

A/N: Wow, very long chapter. A very long chapter indeed.

Do you guys like it so far? Please **Rate&Review. **Tell me whatcha think!

Chapter six is being edited as of now! Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Their flight back to Titans' Tower was fast, through the quiet of Jump City in the cold nighttime. Neither Robin nor Starfire said much on the way home, as the two were wiped out from the calamity of their "day off". The two of them were both quite physically and emotionally drained. Fortunately, they managed to sneak back into Robin's room from the window they left open.

From there they went down a couple floors and through the labyrinth of dark hallways into the medical wing of the Tower. The two had guessed that the rest of the team was most likely in Ops, at the topmost floor of the Tower. Robin felt blind lucky they didn't run into Cyborg, Beast Boy, or Raven and have to explain where they had been all day, what they had been doing, and why on Earth Robin was plastered in his own blood from the knees down.

Once in the medical wing, Starfire went to one of the freezers in the clean, white room to retrieve a few cold packs for herself, as she still had minimal throes of pain clawing at the inside of her head, and she also had bruises of maroon, purple, and blue pooled like paint under her skin.

Robin reached up to open a cabinet above to grab packets of gauze. He limped over to turn the faucet on, and while he waited for the water to warm, he grabbed a pair of scissors from the counter. Starfire watched in curiosity when he brought the scissors down to his knees. He then began cutting away at the already-ripped green fabric. He looked to his left to see Starfire watching him, and explained, "So I have more space."

"Space?" she puzzled, not understanding the vague answer.

"Hang on," he replied, and walked back over to the sink, now flowing with warm water from the metal faucet. He soaked the gauze and began to clean his wounds. The tepid heat of the water soaking into his injuries felt good, soothing almost. He exhaled in the comfort and relief of it all with a humming noise in his throat. Finally, it seemed that he had gotten all of the blood off of him, though it still clung to his spandex in dark, angry stains. He looked up at Starfire standing towards him.

"Star, can you get me the peroxide and cotton balls from over there?" he pointed to a tupperware full of various little bottles, band-aid boxes, basically the whole nine yards of standard first-aid supplies.

"I've still got to clean this out." he added. Obediently, she put her ice packs aside on the nearest counter and turned and strode over to the box, undoing the plastic latches to pop off the lid. Immediately, she pulled out the cotton balls; the easiest supply to distinguish from the rest. But, as one could assume, she couldn't tell one bottle from the other.

"Um..." she said in a tiny voice, shuffling through the box. She shot Robin a look asking for help over her shoulder.

"It's the big purple bottle." he said, "It's in there somewhere, you can't miss it." From there she quickly located the bottle, and brought both materials over to Robin. He plucked a cotton ball from the bag and held it against the mouth of the bottle. Flipping the bottle upside down, he wetted the cotton with peroxide. Setting the bottle aside, he pressed the cotton to his right knee immediately, and flinched with a quiet '_tch!'_ at the annoyance of the medicine's effect.

"Agh, well that stings," he said in his displeasure.

"But you still must do this despite 'the stinging'?" Starfire asked, genuinely curious.

"Yeah," Robin replied reaching for another cotton ball. He drew his hand back, and then went back and grabbed the entire bottle instead, saying, "Oh, the hell with it."

He held a leg across the basin of the sink and slowly began to pour the clear peroxide over his other, uncleaned knee. When the liquid made contact, he grimaced again with a snarl. White foam quickly started to bubble up from the deep, red cut.

"Robin! What have you done?!" Starfire gasped, pointing to the foam in alarm.

"It's _fine."_ he said, rinsing it off, "That's just the peroxide getting bad bacteria out of the cut, so it won't get infected." She felt a little silly, after losing her head over something so practical.

He smiled at her and quipped, "I can guarantee every person on this planet has freaked out after seeing that at least _once _as a child. Don't blame yourself."

But little did Starfire know how taken aback she _would_ become at what Robin was _about _to do. After wiping himself clean, he stood up and limped over to another cabinet across the room and pulled out a large white bottle.

"Lidocaine," he showed her, and shook it up a bit. Next, he opened up a drawer just below that contained surgical needles. He pulled one out, sterilized it, and then slumped down onto the tile floor, with the needle in one, and bottle of anesthetic in the other hand. At the sight of the needle, Starfire's eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth with a hand.

"Robin…?"

"Hand me a cotton ball, Star?" he asked halfheartedly, nodded to the bag of them next to the sink. She didn't question, in fact, she said nothing as she went over and came back with the little white tuft of fluff for which Robin had requested. He began wetting his left knee with the Lidocaine, as he had with the peroxide, until he stopped and looked up at Starfire, who looked both curious and frightened at what he was doing to himself.

"Star…?"

"Robin, whatever are you using that sharp instrument for?" She asked, not removing her eyes from the needle in his hand. He sighed and said,

"These cuts are deep. It's a miracle we were able to stop the bleeding, actually. I have to sew the cuts closed." He held up the Lidocaine to her and explained, "This numbs my skin so I won't feel the needle going in."

"Robin, surely it isn't necessary you do this!" Her voice was growing louder as she grew more flustered. "Are you not even _considering _the fact that you could harm yourself?"

"Starfire," he hushed her, "You're going to wake everyone up, _please._" He reached for the medical thread, and began tying a surgeon's knot through the needle.

"This is completely necessary. I'd _like _to get these stitched as soon as possible, so they can heal as soon as possible and I can be _done _with this. _I know what I'm doing._ Don't worry okay?" his tone was stern, but he wanted her to believe his word and not to worry.

"An old friend of mine taught me how to do this," Robin said, a small smile crept up on his face in remembrance of a certain butler.

Letting out a slow breath he added quietly, "-though it may be slightly complicated, regardless." Which didn't exactly provide Starfire with much faith in him, _but at least he _claims _to know what he is doing, _she thought as she watched.

He brought the needle down to his numbed, left knee, at the top of the angry open cut that slashed across diagonally at a length of nearly five inches. Starfire sat down on the floor across from him and watched quietly as he began.

But before the needle entered his skin, he glanced at her and said, "Y'know.. You don't have to stick around and watch… this."

"Do not worry about me, Robin." she said, amused, "I am not what you would call _'the squeamish type'."_

He only laughed and replied, "Certainly not."

Robin inhaled sharply through his nose, and let out a long, ragged breath. "It's _starting_ that's the hard part." he explained to her, and then added "And the worst part is I have to _watch."_

"You are disturbed by the needles, Robin?" Starfire inquired,

"No, I just don't do this often, and it's a strange thing to stab yourself with a needle and not feel a thing, wouldn't you agree?" he asked, and she pondered this for a brief second.

"I suppose that is true." she agreed.

"Here we go." they both watched as Robin slowly drove the needle into his skin at the top of the wound. As he pierced his skin Starfire glanced over at the Boy Wonder's face, only to see him almost expressionless, with only the white of his mask narrowed in focus.

After one stitch, Robin paused and asked, "Are you _positive _you don't want to leave? It's already late and-"

"Robin." she cut him off and he blushed, "I feel it is obligatory now that I remain with you, in here." he said nothing, and she continued, "You could harm yourself, and I am already worried enough that you are doing this by yourself." _She really worries about me?_ he thought, then reminded himself that he had just stuck himself with a needle and he was supposed to be sewing up a wound.

"Thanks for the concern," he blushed, "but-"

"Shh…" she brought a finger to her lips and pointed down to the needle and thread in his hands.  
"Oh… Right" and so he shut up and continued. Sewing in neat, tight rows, he finished stitch by stitch on his left knee, with his other one still demanding the same attention. He worked slowly, so that he would not make an error. It was already hard enough to have to repair himself like this, as he had not acquired injuries that begged for such medical attention frequently.

After some time had passed, he pulled the thread slow and tight, lacing the lips of his wound together and shut. In interest, Starfire asked if she could touch the neat row of his labor, and of course he let her, trying not to feel awkward as her soft fingers ran along his threadwork in her alien curiosity.

"I have never seen such a method used to heal someone." she concurred.

"Yeah, it's a pretty quick fix." he said, "And in a few weeks, I can slide out the thread; good as new." he looked at the clock; 10:36. It was late, but it was also sensible how fast the time had flown by.

"And now… for the other one." he sighed. _This is going to take all night, _he griped in his thoughts. But then again, apprehending the fact that Starfire refused to leave his side until he finished, he didn't mind taking too _too_ long.

Starfire fetched him another cotton ball and the Lidocaine that had been placed back on the counter above and he set down to repeating the previous task on his other knee. Robin and Starfire talked as he did this, now that he got the learning curve of stitching himself.

At one point, when he was nearly finished, Robin said to her, "It sure is a good thing I could get this done...quietly."

"Yes." Starfire said in return, "But should we really keep everyone else uninformed? Have they not the right to know?" she asked, and this made Robin think deeply for a moment, as he pulled the third stitch through.

"Well, I'd prefer that they wouldn't know, Star." Robin replied, still thinking on her question, "Because honestly," he continued, "I don't want anyone worrying about me. Not you…" he trailed off, losing himself in her lovely green eyes. He flushed, his ear and face growing rosy, and he quickly added "-or, or any of the others, of course."

"Ah, but Robin," she said his name in a sweet, sing-song behavior, _Rob-in_. "you do not know how much the rest of the team worries about you." Her words startled him slightly.

"You… you do?" he murmured in disbelief and she nodded. Sure, his team was his family, his best friends, but he never really thought or considered that they would have so much concern for him. He broke the eye contact they had held for quite some time, and turned down to pull through the final stitch and tie off the threadwork. He stood, mute, and began to put away the supplies away that he had used.

Starfire stood and slowly walked to the doorway, while Robin remained at the counter, his back to her still. Before she turned to leave him, she stood in the doorway and said in the silence,

"We all care about you, Robin, more than you would believe."

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**A/N:** Finally edited and completed this chapter! What will happen next? Who knows?

Yes, I did throw in a little shout-out to Alfred, because who doesn't love Alfred!?

Like this fic so far? **Rate&Review!** Share it! Marry it! I don't know!

*Chapter 7 is underway. Thanks.


	7. Chapter 7

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 7:

The pale light of dawn pried Robin's eyes open. He woke to find he had collapsed across the middle of his bed in his fatigue, hours prior to morning. He had not even changed out of his bloodied uniform in the night; hair rumpled, and he still had a mask clinging to his face. Sitting up slowly, he stretched out his arms, and arched his back, humming a long yawn that rose in his throat.

Scooting to the edge of the bed, he lifted a knee to inspect his handiwork from the night before. Fortunately, his stitches were still intact, knitting his skin together in puffy, red lines. Liquid blue bruises inked the surrounding areas, and he made a mental note to ice them later. Despite aches and pains, he still felt relatively well after the solid night's sleep. He checked the bedside alarm clock; the glaring LED screen read 6:17 am. This wasn't too out of line, as usually 6:00 was as late as he woke. Usually, Robin could be up at 5 or earlier on a night without crime, and sometimes he just didn't sleep.

Robin left his room and made his way down the hall, turning to enter the bathroom for a shower. He began running the hot water, and then turned to lock the door. He pulled his cape off over his head, and then removed his gloves, followed by shirt, pants, and he stuck his boots by the door.

The hot water was beginning to slowly steam up the bathroom and fog the mirrors. Lastly, he peeled off his mask and laid it on the sink's vanity. He tried to catch himself in the mirror, but the steam clouded it too fast, and Dick Grayson could not be seen. _As usual, _he thought lowly and turned away.

Once in, he let the warm water completely engulf him. The heat was a warm reprieve on his aching body, and he let out a low groan of contentment that hummed and echoed off the shower walls. He closed his eyes. Tilting his head up to the faucet head in just the right way, he managed to let the water crash down into his ears and mute the world. Only faintly, could the sound of the roaring water be heard over the blockage. He let his thoughts decelerate, he let his breathing deepen and slow. Time itself felt as if it was close to stopping. He could stand there, undisturbed in peace, for hours. But instead, he only allowed ten minutes of the tranquility to pass. Most likely, there would be things to do today. Most likely, his friends were waiting for him to join them.

After drying off, he secured a towel around his waist and fixed his mask back over his eyes. His hair was still damp, and clung to his forehead and neck. He threw his shirt, cape and gloves down the laundry chute, but decided the pants were too stained and tattered to be remotely salvageable, so those were thrown away. Robin threw his yellow utility belt over his shoulder and sauntered out of the steamed room and into the hallway and back to his room, carrying one boot in each hand. As far as he knew, the others were probably still sound asleep.

Back in his room, he dressed in a clean uniform and rubbed his hair dry, then gelled it up into its usual ebony spikes. While putting his boots back on, he checked the clock again; it was nearly seven. He looked again in mild disbelief; his shower hadn't even been so long, how could the time be flying so fast?

Robin walked up to Ops, wondering if anyone else was up. He was always the routine person of the group; up early, keeping himself busy. He knew Cyborg was always up before 8:00 am, Raven probably was too, though she usually stayed in her room. Starfire's wake-up time varied; some days she would come down at 9:00 and others she'd be up as early as he was; on the roof, taking in the sun. And unlike the rest of the team, Beast Boy would sleep until noon if he could, and more often than not he had to be manually woken up by another teammate.

With the push of a button, the doors slid open into Ops. Robin walked in to see Raven sitting in the booth with tea in one hand and yet another thickly paged book in the other. Cyborg was also at the table, with a screwdriver in his hand, literally _in _his left hand, as he appeared to be replacing a mechanism in his wrist.

"Working _out _of the workshop?" Robin asked him, walking over.

"'Had to get out at some point," Cyborg replied, "I was in there _all day _yesterday. What about you, Raven?"

"My setting varied," she replied, not averting her eyes from her book "I will admit though, I pretty much read all day."

"I don't think anyone was really expecting you did anything _other_ than read, Rae." Cyborg replied, grinning cheekily at her. She frowned "We all have our hobbies." she grumbled, returning back to her book.

Robin turned to find Starfire standing behind him.

"Oh," he said, "'morning, Star."

"Good morning to you Robin." she replied sweetly, holding out a bowl to him, "I made you the cereal." He took the bowl and peered at the contents, suspecting a strange Tamaranian ingredient intermixed. To his surprise there wasn't anything out of the ordinary to be seen; just cereal, milk, and a spoon in the bowl.

"Um, thanks Starfire."

"Aw, now isn't that cute," Cyborg commented and Robin shot him a warning glare, which wasn't exactly effective with his face bright red at the same time. Starfire just giggled at him and crossed the room to pick up Silke, who was lying on the floor by the counter.

"Beast Boy's not up yet, I'm guessing?" Robin asked aloud, spooning cereal into his mouth.

"Nah, dude's over _there_, actually," Cyborg replied, pointing a metal finger over to the couch where Beast Boy was slumped, dead asleep with his mouth hanging open. "Guess he watched a movie last night and passed out." Cyborg said, as _Wicked Scary 5_ was sitting on the coffee table, despite the Titans had all watched it together before.

"Or _several _movies." Raven mused, as she pointed to the cases and discs of _Wicked Scary 1, 2, 3,_ and _4_ sat on a heap beside the video player.

"I… think he has a problem." Robin said, nudging Beast Boy, but he wouldn't even flinch. "Who watches 5 movies consecutively?"

"Who obsessively broods in their room consecutively?" Starfire quipped, and everyone in the room turned to her immediately.

"I'm sorry, did I hear that correctly?" Cyborg said in shock, Raven's mouth hung open. Even Beast Boy stirred. Slowly,

Cyborg turned to Robin and asked, "Rob, did she just…?"

"You asked who in their correct state of mind would engage in one single activity incessantly, when you yourself do the same, Robin." Starfire pointed out, her tone completely naive, yet a hint of playfulness lingered in her voice as she tried to hide her smile from him. Raven let out a low whistle.

"I…" he was blushing, "I… ahm… point taken, Starfire." he lifted the bowl to his lips and flipped it back to get the last of the milk. Bringing it down, it could be seen he had a smile on his face for her, a symbol of surrender, as he walked over to the sink.

"And you're just letting that go, man?" Cyborg asked aloud, incredulous.

"Of course he lets it go," Raven replied in an obvious tone, "it's _Starfire. _She could set his R-Cycle on fire and he'd still have those weird, lovey-dovey emotions of his crowding up the room." She turned to him and deadpanned, "Seriously, cool that down, I can't meditate with your lovesickness interrupting everything."

Only 3 seconds of quiet lasted before Cyborg burst out laughing. The sudden noise jolted Beast Boy awake with a high-pitched scream. Raven returned to reading her book. _This is my family, _Robin thought as he shot the alien in the room a sideways glance. Starfire just smiled and walked out of the room, still carrying Silkie. Of course, they Boy Wonder was shell-shocked Raven would just say something like _that,_ and say it as vacuously as she did just then. Beast Boy flopped over the side of the couch and whined, "Duuudes! What'd I miss!?"

At that point Robin just flat-out went and left the room, as Cyborg began to explain to the sleepy green kid that what had occurred was a moment he dubbed the title, '_The Highlight of Robin's Love Life'_. And as anyone could guess, Robin did not want to stick around while _that _was being discussed about him. He would rather they draw their own conclusions than he hand-deliver the truth he tried to hide by denying every assumption made by Cyborg, Beast Boy, or Raven, if she was particularly amused.

Robin walked straight down to the gym. He was itching to train, and the need seemed to grow with every step closer he came to the large open space. His steps inside echoed off the gymnasium walls. Walking to the center of the room, he stopped, with his feet together at the ankles, and bowed low, beginning a kata to clear his mind, and loosen up his body.

At first, his moves were slow, graceful, his flow like liquid, his breathing pronounced and controlled with a '_tss'_ at every exhale. But then, moving from one kata to the next, he sped up, and sharpened his blows. Liquid became steel as his combat's intensity furied. His strength at concentration were at their peak, and if an opponent was present, Robin could bury the other fighter into the ground. But Kata was just demonstrative run-through of practiced blows and strikes.

Once he finished one, he immediately launched into the next, not stopping for anything, as his intentions were to burn through every Kata of every style of martial arts he knew. At the beginning, he could blow through the first couple in mere minutes, but as he continued, the layouts of more-advanced trials required more strength and time.

He progressed from thirty positions of attack and defense, to forty, to fifty, to what seemed like hundreds of positions, some that even most skilled martial artists did not know. Robin had studied an abundance of styles beside his mentor at a young age. In combat, he blended styles, and he had an arsenal of successful combinations that crossed over Chinese, Japanese, and Korean origins, and provided effective and sometimes lethal damage to the enemy.

Countless times, he ran through and re-ran through the moves, making modifications, correcting his footing, or the trajectory of his strikes. Of course, his knees would still weaken at times from the sharp pain of his injuries, but he continued through the minor annoyance, clenching his teeth every time a twinge of the needle-like stabbed through his joints. Again, a weak voice in his head begged him to stop, and get some ice, but Robin silenced it and continued to lash out in a fury of kicks, punches, strikes, and barreled forward and back in all directions, not stopping for anything, until he decided he was finished.

Panting, his lungs were pleading to slow down, and eventually that, coupled with the pain from his injuries got the best of him, and Robin stood tall, and bowed low to the floor, finishing an ordeal that he knew even the most skilled and conditioned martial artists could not attempt. He was dampened with sweat and went over to get a bottle of water. He downed it nearly all at once, and took a glance at the wall clock that hung in the gym; 11:36. He'd been going for roughly over four hours straight; but to Robin, this meant nothing. He didn't feel done, he didn't feel satisfied.

Robin walked across the open floor to the collection of workout equipment and gear that was mostly used by him, and occasionally Cyborg. Treadmills, weights, barbells, pull-up bars at various heights lined up against the wall, and a sandbag hung from the ceiling, waiting for him. Cyborg had angrily threatened Robin the week before that if this bag was wrecked by him, it would be the last bag Cyborg would replace hang for Robin to use. As it had been the 3rd one that month, and countless punching bags on average had been destroyed by Robin's hours upon hours of damaged brought upon them. _We should only have to get a new one every _year _man! Not every two seconds!_ The words echoed in his head, and Robin promised himself he'd ease up on it today.

Punch, kick, punch, punch, roundhouse-kick, Robin pounded the bag with all force possible, breathing hard as the bag swung back and forth towards him like a giant, cylindrical pendulum. He did this for about a half hour, and by some miracle, this bag had yet to fall and explode across the gym floor.

Despite Robin felt he was putting every ounce of strength he had into the bag in some form of blow, he still didn't feel contented, or as if it were enough. He could have easily spent the entire day in the gym, and then walked out feeling as though nothing was accomplished, and he didn't know why.

One memory kept persistently working its way into his concentration, despite he had already tried pushing it away nearly a thousand times all day and the entire night before, in fact. The scene at the library the other day kept replaying in his head, against his will. Starfire questioned his relationship with her, and then lashed out at him over the subject of the secrets he kept.

_She doesn't understand_, he thought_, secrets have to be kept. It's not that I don't trust her… Or maybe it is. Why can't I just tell her? Why can't I just tell her what she means to me, or who I am, or __anything__?_ His head was pounding, and the brutality of his blows and kicks was building up more and more with the heat of the anger he was reserving for his stupidity.

Suddenly, a feeling began to swell in Robin's chest, and his heart began to beat faster, as he sensed he wasn't the only person in the gym. He whipped his head around at the door behind him, to discover he was being watched in the doorway.

Of course, he was being watched by none other than Starfire, who jumped when he spun around so suddenly from across the gym to see her. He himself was slightly caught off-guard that she was there in the doorway out of the blue.

"Oh, hey Star," Robin called to her, slightly nervy at her presence after the events earlier that morning.

"Greetings, Robin," She leaned against the door frame and waved, "I… was just leaving, I'm sorry I disturbed you." She was about to turn, but he trotted over and met her at the entrance.

"No, please, disturb me." he said in a friendly tone of voice, not wanting her to leave. "Anything you need?"

"Actually I was wondering if you would desire to continue reading the literature with me again, as I am having a bit of difficulty doing it by myself still." She wilted slightly after mentioning the last bit of her request.

The thought had completely slipped his mind, and realizing she had probably been waiting all day for him to come and help her when he was cooped up in the gym to himself made him feel like an absolute jerk. _You…. idiot _he thought, and slapped a hand to his forehead with a grimace.

"Something is wrong, Robin?" she asked blamelessly, holding her left hand in her right.

"No... no, I'm just, ah, sorry I forgot about you," he looked down, red creeping up his neck and making its way to his face.

"Please do not be sorry, Robin. You have done nothing wrong." she reassured, hoping he would look back up at her, and in seconds he did, to say

"But I have. I should have remembered. But I guess…." he trailed off, slowly growing lost in her eyes until she blinked and he shook his head, smiling uneasily "I guess it doesn't matter, If you say so. Let's just go grab a book, okay?"

"Yes, I would enjoy that," she beamed happily and began floating down the hall towards the stairs that led up to their floor. Robin began to follow, that is until the blare of the tower's alarm stopped him in his tracks, Starfire's feet hit the floor and she turned to him,

"Guess we'll have to kiss that dream goodbye," he said, his voice filled with a disappointment that Starfire rarely heard, and the two bounded up the stairs to Ops.

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A/N: Well that was a very fun chapter to write.

For me, Raven's always been the easiest to write humor-wise. I can't reread that one dialogue in this chapter without laughing.

Not really an exciting chapter, I know, but please,

**RATE&REVIEW! **I love to hear what you guys are thinking so far! Thanks!

_*Chapter 8 is being cleaned up and should be posted soon!_


	8. Chapter 8

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 8:

Robin barreled through the doors to Ops with Starfire lingering behind him,

"Cyborg, report." he said seriously, walking up to the computer that the robot was already scanning intently for information.

"Plasmas, man, near the coast of town. Ripping up the city as usual, no specific MO." he replied, plugging a wire of his into the computer to download the info.

Plasmas was just a C-list nuisance, and in Robin's mind, an annoyance that was always a waste of time to fight. He saw that despite it was saving the city, it was still no significant gain to bring down a brainless mutant. Robin slammed his fist down on the table in frustration and seethed, "Ugh, why _now?"_

"What'sa matter, dude? You had something _planned _today?" Beast Boy teased his leader with a shrewd grin of mockery.

"Give it a rest, Beast Boy," Robin fumed and turned to the others, "What are we waiting for? _Titans, move out!" _and at their leader's command, the team fled out the door.

Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy took to the air, following Cyborg and Robin, who took the T-Car on land, speeding towards the coordinates given in the distress signal.

"Hey Robin," Cyborg said to his leader, as they rocketed through the wrecked streets towards their target.

"Yeah?"

"So… Why so serious today, man?" The robot asked him smiling, "Can't take a joke?" He wasn't just talking about Beast Boy's comment, but also what had ensued earlier that morning.

"Can you guys just stop with that?" Robin barked, scowling in the passenger seat with his arms folded. He was all-business now, not wanting anything to do with _this _conversation.

"Okay Rob, but c'mon," Cyborg paused, debating whether or not he should finish the sentence. _Screw it, _he decided, and added with a taunting grin, "-you know you like her."

Robin tried to find words to reply, but Cyborg threw on the brakes in a sudden halt, lurching Robin forward in his seat as result of the abrupt parking. They had approached the scene, and what a scene it was; overturned cars, fires on the sidewalk, street poles and signs lay uprooted from the concrete and scattered all over. The last of the citizens who had been in the area ran out, leaving the disgusting mutant for the Titans to deal with. The hulking mass of reddish-purple goop turned around and roared, throwing its body into the side of a nearby building.

Yelling his signature command, Robin sprinted into the wreckage towards the villain with the other Titans in follow. The five surrounded Plasmas, and attacked in every way each knew how. With bombs, birdarangs, starbolts, dark energy, sonic cannons, and one aggressive green dinosaur later, the destructive mutant soon fell to its knees in defeat, and the unconscious man behind the monster made appearance, lying in the street. Police soon arrived to take the dormant monster back to prison, and the Titans gave themselves a pat on the back for the job well done.

"Guys," Beast Boy said, jabbing a thumb in the direction of their favorite building in town, "Pizza?"

Of course, all five were covered in red-purple slime from head to toe.

"In case you haven't noticed," Cyborg started,

"We're all just a _little _messy at the moment." Raven finished, trying to wipe the goop off of her cloak, but it was stuck to her like gum.

"It's not bad, at least... I don't care, anyway" the green boy replied, wiping some of said goop from his cheek.

Everyone else groaned, and headed back to the T-Car, leaving Beast Boy behind, until he shouted, "Fine! Be neat-freaks then! But wait for me!"

Back at the Tower, everyone cleaned off and sat around in Ops. It was late in the day, and they knew another villain was bound to coax the Titans out of the Tower. It was only a matter of who would and when.

"Dude," Beast Boy blurted out, turning to Cyborg, "video game?"

"Hell yeah!" his metal friend exclaimed, springing for a controller and tossing another to the changeling, who was already flipping on the TV. Raven left the room for obvious reasons.

Robin sat on the couch keeping his distance from the ruckus Cyborg and Beast Boy were making. He realized Starfire was absent, and began to wonder where she could be, when at that moment Beast Boy was in his face, waving a third controller in front of him.

"Hey Robin, wanna play too?" he asked, still wagging the controller back and forth like a bribe. Robin said nothing and stood up to walk around the sofa.

"Beast Boy, you know I can't stand playing video games with you." He said flatly,

"Aw c'monnnnnn!" Beast Boy flopped over the side of the couch to face Robin, "Why nooottt?" the green boy in question whined,

"Because," Robin stated matter-of-factly, "you scream like a banshee when you lose."

And while Beast Boy threw a tantrum in denial of this evident fact, Robin turned and left the room to look for Starfire.

He promised he'd read to her, after all.

Robin knew the way to her room, of course, yet he took the longer hallway to get there and walked as slowly as he could. As much as he wanted to go and find Starfire, which was very, _very _much, his adolescent boy-feelings made his feet weigh down to feel as heavy as cement. For what reason? He had absolutely no idea.

There was something about Starfire that made him this way, and he wished he could put a finger on what it was. If he could wrap his head around it, maybe he could find the courage to tell her how he felt.

He still trudged along slowly, but her door was now in glaring view at the end of the hallway. What was it about her that could pull him out of any thought? What was it about her that made his heart fly and made him smile when he saw her? What was it that made him unable to tell her how beautiful he thought she was? Ever since the day she fell to Earth, ever since the day she had kissed him, he had felt this way about her.

And it was that very feeling that beckoned him to her door.

Robin faced the metal door, her name labeled across the face of it in dull, grey letters. Before he knocked, the faint sound of her voice through the wall startled his knuckles away from the door. He pressed his ear up against the door, and listened hard, curious as to what she was up to. _"A- Ah… Ay? Ah…"_ could be heard, then a disheartened sigh. _She's trying to read on her own, _he thought, and before he could stop himself, he found his hand in a fist, knocking on her door.

"You may enter!" her voice muffled from through the wall, and his heart began to race. He pressed the button beside the door to slide it open and walked in to find the alien sitting cross-legged on her bed with a book in her lap, some scattered on the floor and a few untouched in a small stack.

Before she could say anything, Robin somehow summoned the courage to pull himself over to her and sit beside her on her bed. Starfire didn't make a sound. Robin inspected the page she was on, and peered at the word her finger was on. He tried to hide a smile as he said gently, "It's 'apple', Star."

"Oh Robin," she sighed and slumped in her embarrassment. _He must think I am an idiot. I will _never _learn how to do this. _Seeing her flustered, he felt a little guilt at how he went about corrected her so emphatically.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "that was kind of unfair. Hey," she was hiding from him, with her head down. He ducked to peek at her, and said, "Star?"

"Yes?" she said in a small voice blushing, her eyes finally meeting his.

"Wanna read a story?" his voice was quiet, almost sounding like a child's the way he asked the question. She nodded and a little smile played across her face. She unfurled herself and sat up straight again, while Robin bent over to grab a random book from the floor.

"Hey," he pulled the book up from the floor, "'_Goodnight Moon'_, I remember this book."

"You have read this book before?" She asked him, scooting closer to look at the cover.

"Not in _years._ But it's really good. I'm glad we found it yesterday. Do you want to read this one?" he asked, and she reached over to open it to the first page, her skin brushed warmly against his, causing Robin to blush ever so slightly.

He gently took his hand in hers and ran her finger over the first words of the first page, his voice soft and slow, as he began and she echoed in unison;

_"In the great green room _

_There was a telephone _

_And a red balloon _

_And a picture of the cow jumping over the moon. _

_And there were three little bears sitting on chairs _

_And two little kittens and a pair of mittens _

_And a little toy house and a young mouse."_

Robin could feel Starfire slowly beginning to lean into his side. But something prevented him from tearing his eyes away from the book, or saying something other than the words on each paper, as if he were in a peculiar trance. He feared if he stopped reading, then this would all fall away and never come back again. And that was the last thing he wanted to happen. _Just go with it,_ he thought, _don't mess this up._

"_And a comb and a brush _

_And a bowl full of mush _

_And a quiet old lady who was whispering, "Hush." _

_Good night, room. Good night, moon. _

_Good night, cow jumping over the moon. _

_Good night, light and the red balloon. _

_Good night, bears. Good night, chairs. _

_Good night, kittens. Good night, mittens."_

Starfire's voice was growing softer, fainter. Her hand was beginning to go limp in his, and her eyelids grew heavy. She gave a small yawn, like a kitten, and nestled her head into the crook of the Boy Wonder's arm. Robin then became the only one reading.

"_Good night, clocks. Good night, socks. _

_Good night, little house. Good night, mouse. _

_Good night, comb. Good night, brush. _

_Good night, nobody. Good night, mush. _

_Good night to the old lady whispering, "Hush." _

_Good night, stars. Good night, air. _

_Good night, noises everywhere."_

"Goodnight Robin," She murmured softly, still nuzzled into his side, finally allowing her eyes to close. Robin froze up, realizing the situation, his overactive sense of precaution took over, and his thoughts were tearing rapidly through his brain in vast immensity. _What? Is she… She's asleep. What am I doing? I can't… But maybe..? No, we can't... This is wrong, what would the others say? But... I can't just leave her. No... No, I have to get out. This isn't right. No. No. No. _

"Star," he shook her lightly, and one sleepy, green eye peeped open at him in a rather adorable manner, "Star, I have to leave." in response, Robin could hear a vague whimper behind her lips as she looked up at him sleepily.

"Must you?" she asked in forlorn, which only sent his attention back to his nervous thoughts.

"I... don't think this is suitable." he faltered through the words. _More like I'm too afraid, _he thought. _That's what it really is… _he owed it to her to do this. He knew Starfire didn't want him to leave, and to some degree he found that he didn't want to leave her either.

_Screw it, _pushing all instinct aside, letting the guard he kept around his emotions down, he looked down at her and said, "Alright… alright, I'll stay."

"Thank you, Robin." She sighed contently, and snuggled closer still to him and drifted back to sleep. Robin couldn't help but stare at the girl that lay in his arms. He was still in disbelief that he was sitting where he was at that very moment; in Starfire's room, on her bed, with Starfire pressed against him, fast asleep. He too, was beginning to grow tired, despite it was only just the beginning of dusk.

Robin slunk down slowly, allowing himself to lie down on the round, purple bed, and Starfire's arms still wrapped around him as she slept. He was still a little distraught, and unsure of what this meant, regarding her feelings for him.

Robin decided maybe, even if the case was she wasn't headlong in love with him, even if she didn't return feelings for him that were as strong as the ones he possessed for her, he still knew that she was with him.

And as he fell asleep holding her, that was the only thing he needed.

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A/N: Hey guys! There's chapter 8! Did you like it?

* * *

Brief warning: I have my finals next week, so new chapters might not be posted as... frequently.

I'M NOT GIVING UP, I PROMISE.

I can tell you guys this much about up-comings in this story; I'm throwing the rest of my plot into three final chapters, four at most, which are being written right now.

I'm also working on a new fic at the same time that will make it's way on here soon!

**SO TELL IT TO ME STRAIGHT: **What did you think of this chapter? Please let me know! **RATE&REVIEW!** Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

A BRIEF NOTE: I would just like to recognize and thank all of the wonderful individuals who have taken the time to read every chapter that's made it's way on here so far. Give yourselves a pat on the back! Also, I am so grateful for all of the positive feedback I've been receiving!

Honestly, when I first began writing this nearly three months ago, I never thought anybody on here was going to read it. I assumed since it's the first fan fiction I've ever written, people would be too skeptical to even consider reading it, and it would completely slip under the radar. But now, here I am with over 2,000 views, nearly 600 visitors, and feedback that makes my day every time I log on to read it. Thank you everyone!

* * *

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 9:

Starfire's eyes fluttered open, as the light of early morning began to leak in through the windows and serenely brighten the room. Moving ever so slightly, she realized that she was being cradled in Robin's arms.

She couldn't help but glow in happiness at the actuality that he stayed with her through the entire night. They had fallen asleep on top of the linens, with her arms around him, only to wake with _his_ arms around her. _That means something, does it not? _She thought gleefully. Even if he had fallen asleep by mistake, he was still in her bed, and she couldn't help but allow herself to grin about it.

Starfire took a minute to look at the boy that held her gently in his arms, and could not help but notice how peaceful Robin looked. His expression was softened, and she could hear his breath puff out ever so quietly as his chest rose and fell. He even looked kind of happy, in a sense. It was an especially rare part of Robin that Starfire herself had seldom _ever _seen.

Then, the girl's eyes met the mask, and she was instantly brimmed with curiosity. She knew even if it were taken off at this moment, his eyes would be closed. But at the same time, she did not know what he looked like without it.

Curiosity pleaded her fingers to meet the material that hid his eyes and peel it away in an instant. But as tempting as it was, Starfire restrained herself. _It would not be right, _she thought firmly. If she was to, it would only upset and provoke him, and then he would leave her. She would lose the trust it had taken ages to build with her sometimes aloof and slightly paranoid leader.

Starfire sighed, and rolled her head around to see the time on a wall clock across her bedroom. It read 8:03 am. She knew at some point she'd have to get up, but she did not want to wake Robin, who still lay peacefully, holding Starfire against him.

Against her own wishes, Starfire rose from her bed, causing Robin to stir ever so faintly, but thankfully he didn't wake. She walked up and paused at the doorway, looking back at the boy she loved, and then left him to sleep in her room.

Robin woke and immediately sat up in shock, realizing where he was and what he had done. Of course, he was completely unaware that he had held Starfire through the night in his sleep, but he still could not believe that they had slept in her room together.

He was slightly hurt, waking up in her room, alone. But at the same time, he thought it was smart of her to leave. If the team was to find the _both_ of them walking out of her room together, well, Robin would never hear the end of it. _Then again, _he thought, _it doesn't help that _I'm _still_ _in here. _And so he got up immediately and stretched out his arms; it had definitely been the greatest night's sleep he'd had in a long time.

Robin then noticed the scatter of books that were still strewn around Starfire's room. Easily, he could spot _'Guess How Much I Love You'_, which he had snagged at the library and snuck back to the Tower without her knowing. He flipped quickly through the pages again, and thought deeply for a moment.

Then, smiling to himself, Robin decided that it would probably take Starfire quite awhile to be able to exceed beyond the reading-level of an elementary school kid. He didn't think she was stupid, in this sense, he just believed it would take awhile. As brilliant as Starfire was in other aspects, Robin could not expect her to learn how to read and write the English language fluently in merely a _week. _

This made him grin, because it meant he could spend more time with her, working up what little courage he had to be able to tell her his unfathomable confession. Robin knew he could be a coward at times when it came to his emotions. For him, there was no denying that.

He also knew that sooner or later, he would have to tell Starfire what he felt, or he would go insane. _Maybe... _he thought, closing the book and staring at the cover, _maybe I won't be afraid to tell her… eventually. _

And that exact moment, standing in the middle of Starfire's room by himself, was when Robin got an idea.

Slowly, he walked out of her room, peeking down the hall to make sure he would not be seen. Of course, the dark corridor was empty, lonely even, as always. Robin walked quickly back to his room, and sat down at his desk with a pen and paper. Again, neglecting all fearish instinct, he bent over the paper,

and began to write Starfire a letter.

Out onto the paper poured everything Robin felt she longed to know, everything that she _needed _to know. To his surprise, the words flowed easily from his head through the pen and onto the paper. Of course, with pain and promise, he still had to restrain much information.

There were some things that no one could know about the troubled boy for awhile. He wrote as much about his childhood as he felt was safe to know, which wasn't much without stepping outside of his hero identity. Robin knew he was not emotionally prepared to let out the entirety of his past, his memories, his demons. He decided it wasn't the appropriate thing to tell her in a letter, either.

Robin did, however, explain the necessity of the mask. He admitted guiltily in his writing that it did not just have the single purpose of hiding his other person behind it, but it also concealed his emotions even further than he already hid them from everyone around him.

Despite what he absolutely was required to hold back, much still came out onto the paper. His fears, his struggles, even the reasons he set out for Jump City, vaguely explaining the disagreements he had with his mentor. He told her of his first thoughts on the day she fell to Earth to hide from those who were pursuing her.

Robin soon found he was making his way to the bottom of the paper. Pondering for a moment, he tapped the pen against the surface of his desk. Summoning his courage, he wrote the last words of the message. When he finished, he felt as though he was floating. He read over the letter, and then folded it into quarters, writing '_Starfire, from Robin' _on the top fold.

Robin still could not believe he was doing what he was doing, as he walked back to the alien's empty room, with the letter clutched between his thumb and the palm of his hand. Quickly and quietly, he darted into her room, left the note on her bed, and retreated out, his heart pounding so loud he was positive it was thundering throughout the entire tower.

_That... was so stupid. _he thought wildly, but still grinned as he padded down the hall, trying to slow the tempo of his heart. _But now… eventually, she'll know. She'll finally know.  
_

While said events were taking place, Starfire went about her daily business. She greeted Raven and Cyborg, who were already up and eating breakfast, and then she set about looking around the room for Silkie.

"_Silkie?" _she called out for her pet sweetly, clicking her tongue in attempt to beckon the creature. "Silkie, where are you?"

"He's around," Raven said from the booth, sipping her tea, "I just saw him a minute ago."

Starfire dropped down on her hands and knees, "I have found you!" she cried, and retrieved the little worm from underneath the couch, scooping him up in her arms.

"Was Robin up this morning?" Cyborg asked aloud,

"I didn't see him." Raven shrugged, and Starfire turned away, blushing.

"Oh, I would not know, I have not seen him either." she tittered, though in her head she thought, _Or rather, I have not seen him _awake _this morning. _Silkie began to flail in her arms, and so she walked over to the cabinets to feed the squalling maggot. Cyborg and Raven thought nothing of her response, as Starfire was never one to tell lies.

"It is most strange," she added, "that he would not yet be awake."

"That's what I was thinking. 'Dude's always up at the crack of dawn doing _something_," Cyborg mused.

"He's probably obsessing over something or other, determined to stay holed up in his room all day." Raven suggested tonelessly, as she strode over to the sink to discard her empty mug.

"...Isn't that what _you _tend to do, Rae?" Cyborg nudged her with a pert grin, the empath only answered with a scowl in response.

Unexpectedly, an emerald tiger exploded through the doors. No one even flinched. Right on cue, the large green cat shrunk down into Beast Boy and he trotted over to the refrigerator, swinging the door open in search of, well, the only thing in the fridge reserved for him and him alone.

"Now, where's that kind of energy when we actually _need _it early in the morning?" Cyborg asked the changeling, who was preoccupied with the task of cramming tofu into his mouth.

He turned and gave one second's glance towards his metal friend and said, "Meh."

Starfire floated over to the extensive window that overlooked the city before her. The sun was climbing up to its peak in the pale blue sky, where not a cloud was visible. No matter how she tried, her thoughts kept returning to Robin, whom she had left sound asleep in her room.

She wondered if he was still in there, and what he would think when he woke up to find her gone. _He will most likely deny it ever happened, _she thought with a small sigh, as denial was a specialty of Robin's when it came to many things, even Starfire knew this.

"Well _finally,_" Cyborg spoke,

"...What?" Robin had entered the room, slightly confused why Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were gawking at him upon his entry into Ops. Starfire whipped around to see him in the doorway, covering the biggest of smiles that spread across her blushing face.

"It's quarter of nine, man," Cyborg pointed out. From the back of the room, Starfire offered the Boy Wonder a little wave.

He looked towards her direction in silent acknowledgement, then back to the rest of the team, saying uncomfortably, "-and your point is?"

"Just… kinda weird, man. You… not being on the ball, and things." Cyborg replied in an unsure tone. It certainly _was _an unusual thing for Robin to be up late in the morning, with no given reason why.

"Of... of course I'm on the ball. What are you talking about?" Robin replied with a short, nervous laugh, heading towards the fridge.

Beast Boy took the awkward silence as a cue to strike up a conversation with Cyborg about the latest Game Station console. It took all the control Robin had to refrain from drawing near Starfire and whispering in her ear to go and check in her room for something.

But instead, quite the opposite happened when suddenly she was behind him, whispering, "I never had the chance to inform you... That was a wonderful story, Robin."

"_Story?" _a particular green changeling asked loudly, flabbergasted. Robin groaned. Sometimes Robin really wished that the teammate with the animal abilities -particularly the _hyper-sensitive audible range_- wasn't the same teammate who was an immature and mischievous little green eavesdropper. Of course, as soon as Beast Boy raised the question, all heads turned in Robin and Starfire's direction.

"Story? What's all of _this _about?" Cyborg asked teasingly. Even Raven looked slightly amused by the predicament. Starfire said nothing, her eyes were as round as brilliant green marbles as she blushed and confirmed no response.

"Which one was it Rob? _'Little Red Riding Hood'_? _'Goldilocks'_?" Beast Boy managed to ask without laughing, and earned a high-five from Cyborg.

"...Something like that, yeah," Robin managed weakly with a sheepish grin.

"What, seriously?" Cyborg asked, dumbfounded as Beast Boy laughed even harder, collapsing onto Raven. Naturally, she shoved him onto the floor.

"Geez, Rae, love you too," Beast Boy grumbled.

Robin shrugged and replied nervously, "She… couldn't sleep."

Starfire nodded and managed to pipe up, "Yes, it is true."

The three other Titans looked at them skeptically. The alibi was either truth, or a very strange lie to tell. All five of them stood voiceless, neither Cyborg nor Beast Boy was quite sure how to respond to the claim at all, as it was such an unusual thing for Robin to have supposedly done.

"Well that was _awfully _sweet of you Robin. None of us thought you were physically capable." Raven cut in, completely impassive, and then returned to her book. Cyborg and BB gaped at the empath in incredulity.

Beast Boy got up from the floor, "Okay, this is too weird. I'm never waking up early again." he said and flopped over on the couch, booting up a video game and switching on the TV. Cyborg joined him. Standing in the middle of the room, Robin felt awkward and slightly ineffectual after Raven's comment.

His face felt hot and he didn't know what even to do. "If you'll excuse me," he nodded to Starfire and walked out of the room.

Now it was her turn to stand in the middle of the occupied silence, unsure of what to do. She was perplexed as to why Robin had left so abruptly without particular reason. Cyborg turned away from the game to look at Starfire; he could see the look of inclination written all over her face as she stood still and stared at the door with longing.

"Go on, Star," Cyborg called to her with a warm smile, "go chase him down."

Starfire took off flying down the corridor as quickly as she could, hoping she hadn't missed him. But turning around the corner, she located him; walking down the middle of the hall towards his room. Hearing her breeze towards him, he turned around; it could still faintly be seen that he was blushing and he offered her a little smile as she approached him with her feet still fluttering several inches off the ground.

"Robin!" she greeted him with a sweet smile, feeling especially lucky she caught him alone.

"You really don't make keeping secrets easy, you know that?" he said with a wry smile.

"I am sorry," She said with a sincere smile, "I did not expect for that to have happened."

"Me neither," he laughed quietly. "So," he paused, "did you need something?"

Starfire hesitated for a moment. She was slightly nervous to ask him, but summoned the valor to blurt out, "Yes… Robin, I was hoping... um, could we read again today?"

Of course, as much as Robin wanted to read with her, he shied away from her request with a nervous expression. All of the books were still in her room. His _letter _was in her room. He couldn't be in there, let alone with her _at all_ when she found it. He just couldn't be there. His timid plan would rip apart into tatters the very moment she laid eyes on the paper, if he was standing in her room at that same moment per Starfire's request to join her.

"Um... no. Star, I can't." he said uncomfortably, with a heavy trace of remorse in his voice, as he so badly _wanted_ to, but could not. He could see the confusion and discontent growing heavy in her eyes, and only began to feel worse as he tried to inch away, further down the hall.

"But Robin... why?" She asked softly, her voice sounded hurt and broken. _Why does he avoid me? _she thought intolerantly, certain that the events from the night before surely only served as worthless memories; which would be the only explanation as to why he was denying her now.

"I just can't right now Star, I'm sorry." he said despairingly, "I was… supposed to be working on… things, last night." The excuse was weak, but it was all the helpless boy could manage.

"Robin, I need you to tell me the truth," She said achingly and looked away from him. _The truth? What truth? _Which _truth? _his thoughts were accelerating. If she was going to ask… _the _question, the question of his feelings, he didn't think he'd be able to answer. He'd just up and run away again. _Like a scared little kid,_ he thought grimly, _and would she even believe the things I said in the letter after that?_

He could feel a nervous hitch in his throat, and could only ask in a small voice, "Star…?" looking at her with wide eyes.

"Am I _unteachable_?" her beautiful eyes were clouded, and her voice was quiet and trembling. Poor little Starfire was on the verge of tears. _Oh no, oh no oh no what have I done? _Robin thought frantically. He couldn't help but be lost for words; never had he seen her cry. He was also shocked she would ever stumble upon such a notion about herself.

Looking at her, his dismay was overflowing like an ocean in a cup. Hot tears were beginning to roll down her reddened cheeks as she continued looking right at him.

"_Star,_" he breathed out her name, his eyes still widened in shock at her current disposition. He still couldn't quite take in the fact that she was crying. "you are _not _unteachable. What would give you the idea that I thought that?"

"For one moment you are willing to read with me," she looked away from him again. "but then without warning at the next, you want nothing to do with the task." she coughed out a quiet sob with a hand cupped over her mouth, she was red around her eyes as she looked up at him helplessly to say, "Why do you avoid me, Robin? What have I done wrong?"

He was stunned. Everything around him felt broken as she continued to look at him like that with tears still rolling down her face.

"Star," he tried to calm her down, "You've done nothing wrong. And I don't know where on Earth you're getting this idea that I don't like teaching you,"

She wiped at her eyes at her eyes and said nothing with her head hung low. He pulled her into a gentle hug, neglecting the rest of the world and all things that made sense around him.

"I… I believed it was an annoyance to you," she said hesitantly.

"_You _are not an annoyance to me." he said, and managed to bring a shy smile back on her face. "I promise you," he said, slipping out of the embrace and taking her hand, "we will read again. I just _can't_ right now. I want to, but I can't because I've got work that has to be done."

He looked her in the eyes, "Do you think that for now, you could try to read by yourself?"

In truth, Starfire was lacking confidence in that idea. But for him, she decided that she had to try, at the least. Nodded her head she replied, "I will do the best that I can."

She turned and began to walk down the hall. Robin stood and watched her go; he had a fluttering feeling in his chest, as though his heart was floating. He took a breath and called, "Starfire?"

She stopped to turn her head his way in answer. "When… when I slept with you last night… well," he felt as though his feet were no longer on the ground, "I'm glad you made me stay."

"Truly?" she asked, astounded that he brought up the night before, out of the blue.

"Yes." he said, and smiled softly, "You are nothing more than heart."

Starfire made her way down the opposite hall. His compliment still carried her high off the ground as she floated to her room. _This must mean something, should it not? _she thought excitedly, turning the corner. _But still, I wish he had the time for me, _she contemplated what sort of 'work' possibly could have been occupying him.

She wanted to read so badly, but with _him. _This conflicted her, as Starfire still believed she wouldn't be able to get much accomplished without him there, nor did she really have the desire to, without Robin there to encourage her. By the time she reached her door, she was barely off the ground, in lowly dismay at the fact she'd have to struggle with the reading by herself.

The door slid open, welcoming her into the room and sliding shut in silence as she made her way in. Starfire closed her eyes and let out a sigh of dismay, tipping forward and collapsing headlong onto her bed. Upon the soft impact, she could hear the sound of paper quivering back at her. Her eyes flew open to find a piece of paper folded neatly in front of her. Written on the top fold, she saw her name, followed by Robin' Robin's handwriting. _Funny, how those two are right next to each other, _his words from what seemed like ages ago echoed in her head as she took the paper in her hands.

_You are nothing more than heart._

.  
.

*A/N: Chapter nine! Only few chapters remain now, and I promise, they'll be up soon!

Again, a big thanks to everybody who's been reading. I'm appalled that there are people who think so highly of it XD

So now I must ask, thoughts on this chapter? Please **RATE&REVIEW!**

_*Who's excited for chapter 10?*_


	10. Chapter 10

A brief apology and thank you to all who have been waiting for this chapter. Thanks so much for waiting it out and not giving up on me XD

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**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 10:

Starfire unfolded the paper to find the inside contents brimming with words. Immediately seeing this, she became flustered and did not understand. _This is some sort of test? _She thought, perplexed, and found her name written at the top of the page, sitting at the top above the plunge of rushed scribbles below that she could not smoothly piece together.

"What is this?" she asked aloud in puzzled wonderment. It looked as though he left her some sort of test or challenge. But she felt as she looked at the top, addressing that it was for her, she felt as though it were something more profound. There were few words she could immediately pick out of the text, but everything else was lost to her.

Upon finding this mysterious and unspoken for paper Robin had left for her, Starfire had no idea what even to do in her current state of affairs. She couldn't even be sure whether confronting Robin about it would be the right thing to do. Nor –she remembered- was he apparently reachable at that moment. Then, a blinding realization clicked in her head and her lungs filled in a gasp; this must have been why he had evaded her so halfheartedly; he didn't want to be present when she found this strange paper, this _test_, she assumed to call it. _But why would he want me to find it alone? _She puzzled, and the only answer she could muse was that it contained information. _Conceivably precious or important information, _she pondered. Still, this was merely a guess, and it was the only guess she could hazard.

Starfire stared at the paper for only a second longer before she folded it back up and sighed, _what does this mean? _She walked over, and gently placed the paper in her dresser and shut it in the drawer, safe and concealed. Then, she left the room, and went to look for the only other person whom she knew she could trust, and who may have a clue as to what Robin was up to.

Starfire stood nervous by the door. She was beginning to doubt that this could shed a light on the problem, nor would searching for help this way be such a wise idea.

Just as she was about to take a step away, she heard Raven loudly say through the door in a slightly annoyed voice, "Starfire, just knock on the door, I know you need something."

The alien jumped in startled reaction to Raven's sudden and unexpected (and rather contemptuous) assertion, but then abided the request and knocked on the door.

It slid open immediately, with Raven leaning against the door frame with an amused smile, "_Yeessss?" _she asked in a lightly mocking sarcasm.

"Raven, there's something I need to ask of you," Starfire said, her face growing hot and her voice was hesitant. Raven rolled her eyes. _I thought Robin took over this job. What could she need me for?_ Still, she had sensed something in Starfire from the moment the alien walked up to her door. Confusion and uneasiness were clouding Starfire's conscience from the moment she began walking up to Raven's door. They were so intoxicatingly potent to her; it seemed to the empath that she could almost touch Starfire's flamingly powerful emotions.

"Sure. What's wrong?" Raven asked, actually quite curious as to what the problem could be. With Starfire, no one ever could really guess.

"My questions concern Robin, actually." She said, and Raven's expression was flipped askew.

"Wait… is this 'girl talk'?" Raven asked incredulous, this topic of discussion completely –no pun intended- alien to her, and blatantly unexpected as well.

"I suppose that could suffice as accurate terminology" Starfire cogitated, her voice slightly hitched up a notch in her slight discomfiture.

Raven's eyes immediately found their way up to the ceiling again and she heaved a long sigh that flew down and out of her mouth like an anguished wind. This conversation was not -with any pun intended- Raven's cup of tea. Explaining love (and Robin's supposed inability to openly admit love) to Starfire was not an affair Raven expected to be penciled into her afternoon's schedule.

"Okay," Raven festered, "what has Robin done now?"

"Well," Starfire was unsure of how or where to begin, or _what_ she could confide in Raven without necessarily divulging secrets. "Ummm…" her words hung off on a tangent, as the empath and the alien stood in the otherwise person-less hallway.

"Starfire, spit it out." Raven said, her voice passive, but nonetheless feeling impatient. Whatever it was, she wished Starfire would just get on with it and indulge Raven in what was probably a silly and pointless dilemma.

"I must regurgitate?" Starfire asked with a horrified look aimed at Raven. Raven gritted her teeth in slight annoyance, and Starfire did not understand where the conversation could possibly be going.

"No, no. I mean, can you just tell me what's wrong so I can _help_ you?" Raven asked in raring exasperation. Whatever life-or-death inquiry Starfire had, Raven figured she could fathom a two-second answer, and she was all the more anxious to return to her room and be done with this childish banter.

Again, Starfire hesitated for a second; it wasn't as if she could help it, though. For some unknown reason, she found it nerve-racking just to speak of Robin, let alone ask what the frick she was supposed to do on the subject of the mysterious note. She couldn't think through her heart jumping up and down, and her brain, which was absolutely whizzing at this point as she could clearly recollect him; his smile, his words, his touch.

Then with a jolt, she awakened and her thoughts fell back down to earth as Starfire could see Raven's look of impatience. "Robin has left me a sheet of parchment with much writing on it for reasons that I do not know…" not wanting to expose her illiteracy, she added decisively, "should I read it?"

"You mean he left you a _letter_?" Raven asked, dubious. This was tremendously unexpected. _Never thought Robin was the type to write love letters. Who even writes typical letters anymore? _Raven couldn't even really discern what to think of it. She couldn't help but wonder what had persisted him to write Starfire a letter in the first place, though she knew for a fact it wasn't her business to ask him or the ever-flustered Starfire who needed Raven's insight on the matter… for some reason or other.

"I… am not quite sure" Starfire tentatively replied. Raven could see that Starfire was clearly lost, and dependant on her help. _Damn it, Robin. What's your plan? _Raven thought. Surely, he must have considered the chance she would be utterly confused if he left her… whatever it was he left her in that letter to read. Raven sighed and looked at her friend

"Sometimes… people write letters when they need to tell others of things that are important or significant." She paused, "Of course, no one's really writes letters anymore so that's why it's a bit strange Robin would randomly do that."

"You believe I should read the letter then, yes?" Starfire asked excitedly, her worry now a vanished apparition. Now only the hope of decoding his words prevailed in her. _What could the letter possibly hold? _she wondered. Starfire felt as though she was once again a young, high-spirited child, given a task with an ending result that was none other than reward. Now, she only hungrily desired to know what the winnings of this "challenge" could possibly entail. What grand words of importance had Robin left for her to decipher? On the note of the word 'challenge', Starfire contemplated that in a sense, she had been half-right with her guess upon the prior discovery of the letter. But all the same, she felt blissfully lucky to know that this letter was more than a meaningless test.

Upon the energetic release of Starfire's question, Raven could perceive the trouble and confusion dissipating off and away from Starfire. Instead, only joy and excitement blossomed from the girl; coloring the space around them and began blooming and chasing its way down the hall. Raven noted with a twinge of bother that it would take ages for all of that happiness to filter its way out and it would be unfeasible to block out as she meditated. But regardless, Raven couldn't help a small grin as she nodded from under her hood.

"_Oh thank you Raven!" _Starfire erupted, overjoyed. It was a miracle on Raven's behalf that the joyous alien resisted the urge to hug her.

"Um. Don't mention it." Raven replied on the whole.

With both girls anticipating nothing more than to return to their rooms, Starfire bidded Raven goodbye; the hallway could not get any more invigorating as she flitted down the hall, feet off the floor, a trail of intoxicating delight and bliss that could be unmistakably distinguished by Raven, who re-entered her abode as well.  
...

Robin stared at the ceiling. The blank white of his mask met the blank white of the lath and plaster that spread to every corner above him, as he lay on his back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about what an insensitive idiot he was.

He could conjecture that by then Starfire had found his letter, which he had left to wait for her earlier that morning. He ran through the contents of the writing in his head and recounted every thought that had gone from his head and onto the paper in his haste that morning. His feelings, his troubles, years of his life put into words crammed on one single piece of paper that he sent to the room of the girl he loved. The girl whom he had made burst into tears minutes before.

He still remained in appalled disbelief that he'd made Starfire so upset. That should not have happened, and he could not have felt worse about it. Lately, when it came down to completely screwing up whatever chance he had with her; he was just batting a thousand; as though nothing went smoothly between him and Starfire anymore. As if fate had a malicious passion to make everything between them go unforgivably wrong, nowadays.

With ever lingering doubt that bloomed, Robin's confidence began to wilt, and regret ever writing the damned letter in the first place. What would either of them even remotely gain from the letter's confessions in the end? If she would uncover the secrets he set out for her, wouldn't she be liable to just keep asking him for more? His head was beginning to hurt, the disparaging thoughts that tortured and teased were beginning to weigh down inside of him like a dark and heavy rainfall. All he could see before him was her face; her eyes, wide and wet with tears born from the pain he had caused, as he stared up at the ceiling still.

He never should have written her the letter. He never should have let her down, the many times that he did. And he was beginning to consider that loving her was a thoughtless mistake as well. Thoughtless, careless, utterly irrational. _As if there was anyone left in the world who could love me_, he thought dejectedly, a pang of sorrow rose in his chest. The hero Robin was now dormant, and instead the human lay pained and exposed in the hero's uniform.

It wasn't as if he could cease to love her, though. He could barely stop himself from thinking about her consistently throughout the day. The boy found that he was addicted to every virtue of her. He found himself absolutely drawn to her kindness, her brilliance, and the overall benevolence of Starfire, without fail. No, he could not automatically stop himself from loving her, nor did he believe he could even manage to gauge his feelings in the slightest of ways.

And so once again the question that had grown deep in the pit of his heart cried out for what seemed like the millionth time; why, if he loved her so much, could he not get some sort of big break, a salvation, and be able to tell her his feelings? Why did it have to be so outright unfeasible? He hadn't the slightest clue. And the lack of an answer, the lack of understanding aggrieved him in such a way he felt he could lose his mind.

Robin sighed and -to his surprise- found his thumb tugging at the top left corner of his mask, as if his eyes were whining for attention, or to breathe. In one pull, it peeled away and he blinked; it was almost as if his entire self felt lighter all at once. A ghost of a sigh rose in his chest as he held the strip of fabric up before him and looked it over; this was the face that his team had seen every day for the years that they'd known him. This was the only face that the world knew of. But it wasn't a face at all. It was a mask. He ran his thumb over the white material in a solid thought.

He heard a knock on his door that made jolt up in a shocked rejoinder. He heard a sudden _No_ escape from his mouth in a gasp. Against all warning, the door whooshed open in a split second; revealing none other than Starfire behind it. In a startle, Robin's hands flew up over his face as he fell forward with a scared yelp, off his bed and he immediately bent over on the floor; completely shielding himself from her at all costs. Starfire's mouth fell open when she saw him do this, almost like a provoked animal, the way he hid himself from her in what looked like complete instinct. Then she saw the lone mask that lay on the floor behind him.

In truth, fear was flooding him. Once again, it seemed everything was going wrong. Every part of Robin was shattering as his hands still clung over his eyes with a fragile desperation to keep them secreted.

"Star, please." he said weakly, still unmoving on the floor before her. There was an eerie feeling that whistled in the room and Starfire herself could not help but stare at him in a bewildered unease.

"Robin…?"

"_STARFIRE PLEASE, PLEASE JUST GO!" _his voice was strangled in a broken plea. He didn't know why he was shouting. He didn't know why he was so frightened and awry. He didn't know why he had such a strong urge to shun his eyes from the entire world altogether.

Starfire said nothing, as she backed away from the open doorway. She didn't even know Robin was predisposed to such… absolute panic. His unwavering need to hide was troubling to her. But she knew straight away that very moment wasn't a time in which he had the stability to come to terms with his dysfunction.

She turned away from him to leave, in a dead and concerned silence. Robin found a hand slowly crept away from one of his eyes to steal a glance at her as she left him. In her hand, he saw a familiar scrap of paper, and the sight of it couldn't help but relieve his pain and give him the littlest bit of faultless hope.

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*A/N: Chapter nine; sarcasm, angst, and unmasked eyeballs. How lovely.

And you guys were expecting actual plot-development.

I know I've been gone for a super long time. I haven't had the chance to write/edit as frequently. As you can probably tell, this chapter by itself was very hastily written -_-'

But worry not! Two chapters remain! I can guarantee that '11 will be posted as of sometime next week. Please stick around and keep reading, because crazy things I cannot yet speak of are bound to happen in the final two chapters of this bizarre story! Please feel free to let me know what you thought of this chapter!

***FEEDBACK IS NICE, BY THE WAY. I THOROUGHLY ENJOY FEEDBACK. PLEASE RATE&REVIEW THANKS!***


	11. Chapter 11

**TEACHING STAR TO READ**

VigilanteCharlie317

Chapter 11:

It was a hush memory that had settled into her brain; prominent to keep quiet, despite she knew it would never easily leave. It was already ceasing to continuously replay in her head as she padded down the hall, once again returning to her room. She knew she wouldn't easily forget the deafening silence in the room, or the ghostly chill that ran up her spine as his voice in her mind broke in an overwrought plea for her.

Starfire still found herself feeling thankful that she hadn't seen his eyes. It wouldn't have been the way she sought to have finally unearthed them. Yet after coming so close, she ached more than she ever had over the subject matter. She _yearned_ to search and find something, _anything_ she possibly could about the boy that hid in a misunderstood dread behind a mask. The mask that she looked into and saw nothing behind. Could she even call it eye contact, when her eyes merely bored into the white material, into the brick wall between them, as opposed to viewing the so called 'windows to the soul'?

Nevertheless, she knew that Robin kept to himself and that aspect had yet to change. As her door slid open upon her command, she contemplated how much of Robin was kept away from them, how much of himself he kept concealed. She found her mind swinging back to the disastrous conundrum in the library. It felt as though that had been ages ago for her, despite having taken place not even a week prior. That day, she realized with appall, had probably been the first time anyone on the team posed questions aimed at who he actually was.

Robin's reaction had been saddening to her, in the sense that something restrained him from telling her whatever records of his past had to remain buried and forgotten by the rest of the world. It was painful to her, mostly because beneath that memory laid the other; the memory of the day when this mess had begun, and Robin promised she could tell him anything. How could it not cause the hurt to only spread more so, when she was incapable of promising him the same?

Entering her room once again, she could not forget what trial loomed over her head, as it lay at the bottom of her dresser drawer in restless anticipation to be reopened, to be deciphered. Without even thinking she could avoid it, she slowly slunk to her dresser and retrieved the letter. Whatever was in the message, it poised as a troubling and almost cruel incentive for the alien to pursue. Of course, she knew that Robin could not have any means to do this to tease her. Starfire could not recall a moment in her life when Robin had taunted or mocked anyone. The letter was encouragement, and even though she knew it meant well, it still had the semblance of a cough syrup for her; it would be good for her, but at a small price of suffering. Suffering, being so close and yet so out of reach as the answer hung above her. Suffering, being the events that had ensued earlier that morning which she then could not help but recall; losing hope, losing confidence, and revealing these weaknesses to Robin. Upon remembrance of said 'events', she felt her face burn warmly in her sickened embarrassment. How childishly she had behaved, she thought, sinking into the duvet on her bed. The pillows still smelled like Robin.

She was brought up as a princess, and followed by that as a slave; she was raised in both atmospheres learning never to cry or show even the slightest flinch of weakness, because it would make others believe they had the better of you, despite you were royalty. Or that they had the upper hand that could, in turn, clench around your neck and compel surrender. She didn't know what has caused her to suddenly just break down in front of Robin the way she had, but she certainly did regret it.

Cautiously, the paper was unfolded. The creases opened like parting curtains to reveal the same clusters of scribbling. The paper was absolutely over-saturated with jumbles of letters that pieced together the mystery she had yet to solve. She could pick out a few simple words, but the rest still may as well have been written backwards. This could be over and done with a simpler way, but she wasn't that unrightfully desperate. She wouldn't plummet to that resort; it wouldn't be fair to either herself or Robin. She slid off the bed to gather the books that lay in wait on the floor around her. _Surely these could serve as articles of practice before I confront the letter, _she thought to herself. It wasn't a retreat from the letter, she denied, but rather a better approach to improve her literacy before attempting the letter. _Certainly not a retreat, _she convinced herself, reburying the letter in it's small drawer of confinement.

The afternoon wore on, minutes slowly flickered by. The clock lazily blinked a new passing number at an extensively slow rate, making Starfire's room feel like the dead impression of Limbo. Words and sentences made sense about as slowly as the clock marked passing time, and it felt as though the silence in the room was swallowing her. As unbeatable as her restlessness seemed, the alien still bore a resilient patience that kept her eyes glued to her book, as her foot tapped along with the metronome ticking of the clock.

Hours swung by like that of a weighted pendulum; moving steadily yet barely making significant advance. Slowly, with great effort, she made diligent progress. Words were beginning to take shape and bear sense. Longer snakes of words and sentences no longer deterred her, but only persisted her to rack her brains and keep moving through the stories, over and over again without cease. The afternoon rolled into dusk, Starfire found her room growing dim as the sun shied away, and she pulled herself away from the stories for but a moment to turn the lights on in her room.

The stories, she found them entrancingly captivating. Each, a tale that transported her to unimaginable lands with quirky and fascinating characters that reminded her of her friends. But she could not help but notice, after reading each story time and time again that each tale settled with a happy ending at the end. This plot device seemed reoccurring with every fairy tale that she read from the book she had been pouring over for the last couple hours. Without fail, whatever the conflict, everything was sorted out for every princess. Recognizing she was a princess as well, she thought, _does a princess _always _have her conflicts resolved? Does _every _princess get the 'happy ending'? _Starfire's attention drifted up from the book for a moment to try and picture her happy ending. She couldn't. There was no sole vision before her, when she thought of it. Was it with her friends on Earth? Was it on Tamaran? Her perfect world, and she wasn't even sure where it was or what it consisted of. It was a troubling feeling; to realize you didn't know where you even belonged in your perfect world.

The dark had finally rolled its way over the sky and into her room, seizing it and filling its way from the floor to the ceiling, only shying away from the light that dimly burned in its glass over her bed, where she still sat cross-legged, running her finger over the words on the pages, delicately whispering the phrases to herself as if they were incantations, or secrets. Only to slip between her lips as quietly as her soft voice would allow.

She let the words wash over her, and mix with the silence that had hummed and purred in her room since the early afternoon. Progress was being made, though slowly. Still, she had a good feeling flowing through her, blossoming in her mind as words were taking form from the scrambles of letters she analyzed. Finally metamorphosing gradually and showing themselves to her. Starfire's intellect was astounding, having every word in the English dialect fastened into her lexicon, yet she found to her shock that she could not decipher them in the slightest of ways briefly after... _intaking_ the English language. It was a tedious yet easing divergence now, as she ran through the pages and could now steadily identify any sort of vocabulary.

A shudder of want beckoned her eyes to fall on the dresser that stared back at her from across the room. _Maybe now? _She thought, and made motion to slide off her bed. But a sudden knock on her door stifled her, and she froze; startled as if the knock had taken place from inside of her chest.

"Star?" the voice called her softly, but she made no move towards the door, "It's Robin..."

She knew perfectly well it was him.

"We're wondering if you were going to come out," he said unsteadily, "are you asleep?"

Still, she said nothing, she did nothing. Perhaps there was nothing she could do. She didn't want to face him; enough damage had already been brought upon the two of them that day, what with her near-encounter with the Robin no one had ever seen. She couldn't answer the door and look at him without thinking of what had happened, without hearing his scream. It would only sadden and guilt her.

"Starfire," he still hadn't left, he still hadn't given up just yet, "about earlier…"

He could just faintly hear a sigh through the door.

"I don't know what happened. I don't know why I did what I did," he was losing his already trailing-off words, "but for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

A damp blanket of silence fell over the two of them, and made the wall between them feel as though it was growing thicker with every passing second. She strained her ears with a pained look, but she could not hear anything more. Then, the near-mute sound of his fading footsteps told her.

He retreated from her door, and she in turn retreated from the menace letter that lay in wait. She fell back to the soft and welcoming duvet and linens, and found her hands reopening the book of fairy tales. But before she could even turn the fifth page, her head began a tired ache, and her eyelids began to droop like a setting sun. The book fell to her side, and the pages cascaded in a flutter as it nearly shut. Starfire gave in to her weariness.

. . .

The morning came gently, and bathed her room in swathing light that crept in through the windows. She woke, and came to terms with the verity that she would have to leave her room. She couldn't coop up in her room all day. With a final pained look at the letter-prison, she rose off the ground and drifted out of her bedroom.

Later in the morning, there had been a low-level robbery. They fought to their aptitude, but Starfire said nothing to Robin, she couldn't. She knew it was written all over her face, but she still could not look at him, because he would know. He'd know that she felt guilt; he'd know that she was restlessly trying to bring herself to read his letter. When the team returned back to the tower, Starfire allowed herself to idle a bit, and make conversation with Raven, but she then returned to her room and the books that demanded her attention.

The days rolled one into the other; and Starfire found that with every dedicated hour that past as the week came to an end, that she could analyze faster, her reading was steady and quick, and she no longer needed to murmur the words to herself. She'd burned through each book at Godspeed, and could practically recite each story, word for word. With these several days having passed, the thought once again interrupted her, and she found herself putting the stories aside, and found herself drifting towards the letter prison.

She and the room itself moved slowly, as she made her way back to her bed in the center of the bedroom; the paper clutched tight in her hand as she quietly tried to calm. But as her fingers worked at the creases and the paper's words blossomed open to her, her heart couldn't help but pick up pace, and her chest couldn't help but flutter in excitement and pound in biting nerve.

_Starfire,_

_There are things that I need to tell you. Things that are written here, because something always holds me back from telling you in person. And I think I know what that something is now. _

His words fell open to her, and she couldn't help but struggle for breath as her heart pounded so fast. Though her mind, heart, and body felt as though they were kicked into overdrive, she stopped herself from whirring through the entire paper, and read it carefully, word by word.

_Sometimes I believe it would be dangerous if we were together. Villains could use one of us against the other. To them, you would be seen as a weakness of mine in a sense, and I sometimes feel that I'm too afraid to risk you if that were to happen._

_Another part of me always reminds me to keep the leader part of myself in check. Every time I've ever pushed you away, it's that seriousness of being a hero clouding my judgment. For every time I have pushed you away, I apologize._

She couldn't believe what she was reading. Robin truly had put his emotions into words, _for her. _He was saying things she didn't know he was capable. Talking of feelings she did not think he ever felt. What thoughts roamed and dwelled in his head.

_I can't stand to see you fall for reasons I can't delve into yet. There's something inside of me that always drives me to throw myself forward to catch you… and I don't think it's just a hero-instinct, I think it's that I care for you. _

The alien began to feel wonderful tears trailing down her face. Starfire barely expected the chance of his letter telling her what she meant to him. It was beautiful to know that someone felt such love for her. Someone, whom she realized that she loved as well. Through the letter everything was so clear now, it was as if a tide of insight had finally come in and flowed over her in waves. She found her hands clutch the frail paper tighter, as her mouth drew into a shaky smile as she found her way to the bottom of the page.

_Maybe I only appear as a leader and a friend to you, but I'm actually more than that. All I need to know from you is if you feel the same. I promise that by the time you are able to read this, I will come to terms with what I think I feel for you, and be able to tell you yourself._

_Please tell me that you love me too._

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A/N: I've been gone for so long. I'm real sorry about that guys.

I know alot of people have been waiting at least a month, if not longer, for this chapter. As you could guess by reading, it took awhile to write XD

But I promise that the final chapter will be posted next week at the latest.

Oh my gosh, final chapter, I can't believe this is happening :0

***PLEASE RATE&REVIEW THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS!**


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